SBHS Student Parking; Is It Worth It?
Empty parking spots that are not yet taken up in the student parking lot.
December 15, 2022
A.B lives in the Hollywood West Park neighborhood. It’s a 10 minute drive to get from West Park to SBHS. Even though SBHS is only such a short drive away, A.B finds himself waking up at 6:00 A.M and arriving at school an hour early
“So, I can get a decent parking spot by the bus loop,” said A.B.
There is one main thing that comes to people’s minds when they think of student parking: the price. Is a parking spot really worth $60 dollars? Three students seem to have fairly different responses.
SBHS sophomores A.B and J.G are students that would rather not spend $60 for the student parking lot. They both decided that it would be smarter to keep their names unknown due to their slightly illegal choice of a parking spot.
The first question that comes to mind is “Why don’t they just pay for the parking space?” Well, for J.G and many other students, they just don’t have the money for it.
“I don’t have enough to pay $60 just to park in a place I have to be. It’s school, I don’t have an option to be there,” said the student.
But what if they do have the money for the parking spot? Some are willing to pay and some just aren’t.
11th grader Abbey Ortiz is one of those students willing to pay for a good spot. She says that the $60 is worth the moments of morning peace.
“I get my morning peace by myself. I can play my music as loud as I want and I get my last moments of peace before I have a whole day,” said Ortiz.
But for the not so willing students, the “free” parking does come with some risks. Some of these risks are getting a ticket or even getting your car towed. The normal cost for a parking ticket in Florida is around $30. This makes it quite understandable why they would rather risk it.
“I’d rather take my chances with it,” said A.B.
Is not paying for a spot really worth risking getting a ticket? For Students A.B and J.G they both agree that they’ll rather risk it.
“I feel like it’s a waste of money when I can park outside the gate for a cost of nothing,” said A.B.
“I know the risk but I haven’t been caught yet so you know,” said J.G.
A.B has to wake up early, drive to pick his cousin up and then drive him and his cousin to school. Why?
“I need to get a good spot,” said the junior.
