After weeks of students attempting to sell parking spots for up to thousands of dollars, administration is cracking down. In an October 1st StudentSquare email, administration offered an amnesty period for students to own up to their parking violations before harsher consequences follow. Students have until 3:30 tomorrow to come forward.
With everyone settled into the school year and parking arrangements becoming more permanent, administration has been conducting investigations to identify those who are in violation of parking policies. Although staff has noticed smaller infractions, school officials are currently focusing on the heaviest offense: the improper selling and trading of parking spots. At the forefront of this investigation has been David Pickard, Assistant Principal of Safety, Facilities, and Athletics.
“There has been an investigation going on since the beginning of school. I think students think that we’re not watching the parking lot, but we are, and we know the kids that are taking advantage of the situation,” said Pickard.
According to CHS’s official parking policy, parking spots are “non-transferable” and the penalty for violation is “the confiscation of the permit and permanent loss of parking privileges.”
However, students have neglected to follow the policy, some purchasing spots with the sole intent to resell them.
“A lot of students bought parking permits that never had a car, and never planned on using them,” said Pickard.
While students were pursuing monetary gain, many failed to recognize the severity of their actions.
“In the eyes of the district and administration, that’s fraud. You’re taking something that’s not your property and selling it for personal profit. Legally, that’s fraud,” added Pickard.
Yet, by allowing this period of amnesty, administrators have decided to lighten up on the parking policy and give people the chance to come forward. Violators must inform Pickard of their misconduct by the end of the school day on Friday. Superintendent Dan Stepenosky, Principal Bennett Wutkee, and assistant principal David Pickard worked together to come up with a course of action.
“At the end of the day, we want to give students the opportunity to do the right thing. This is a place of learning, and students are allowed to make mistakes here and learn from them. That’s what we wanted to do before coming down with more harsh consequences,” Pickard said.
If students come forward during this period, they are offered complete amnesty and will receive no consequences. The parking pass will be transferred back to the original owner with no suspension of privileges. The money aspect is where things get difficult to track and regulate.
“There’s kind of personal transactions that have happened, but I would do my best to make sure that the student who sold it returned the money to the student that purchased it,” said Pickard.
Pickard attributes the parking misconduct to the shortage of parking spots for non-seniors. Students who drive to school and are not yet seniors have limited street parking available, with cars lining up as early as 6:30 a.m. to secure a spot close to school.
“We are looking for a long-term solution that may not be an immediate fix right now, but something in the future that would help this problem. We are aware of the issue, but as far as the senior spots we sold to senior students, they properly purchased them, so I feel that it’s my duty to protect those spots,” said Pickard.
Even though staff have cracked down on parking, some seniors who are directly affected by this misconduct have expressed indifference and a lack of concern for the situation. Some went as far as defending those who took part in the improper transferring of spots.
“I have heard that people have been selling their spots for thousands of dollars, and honestly I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. The school shouldn’t be trying to regulate it because it’s the senior’s choice if they want their spot or not. So what if a junior has a spot? They bought it,” said Paige Bruskrud, a CHS senior.
Eliana Long, another CHS senior, agreed with Bruskrud’s sentiments, pointing to solutions for the chaotic parking situation.
“I think that since there is such high demand for spots maybe it is time to consider building another parking lot, and maybe that could help deal with the street traffic issue as well,” said Long.
Although many students sympathize with juniors and sophomores who don’t have on-campus parking, some seniors have expressed frustration towards those who manipulate the system rather than wait until senior year, like others had to.
“I think that they should be allowed to, but it kind of makes my life harder because juniors are so bad at driving. And honestly, I had to wait four years to get a spot, so the juniors should too. Whenever I enter the parking lot it’s a game of who loves their car more,” said CHS senior Martinique Niv.
With mixed sentiments from students and a staff determined to enforce the rules, it is the calm before the storm. Once the amnesty period is over, students can expect a strict adherence to the official parking policy, with the potential for many students to lose parking privileges for the rest of their time at Calabasas High.
