Junior year is known as one of the hardest, if not the hardest, year of high school. To add to the stress from the challenges students already face this year, juniors must park at the remote lot, also known as Junior Lot, located 3.7km away from the school, in Ministerios El Rey Jesus lot at 1490 N Flamingo Rd, Plantation. Juniors buy a parking space for $50 in the lot and are able to park and then take a school bus to commute to the school. This has created serious inconveniences for students, particularly those involved in after-school activities.
The concept of this parking lot is simple: juniors park their cars in the designated area and take a bus to and from school. On paper, it seems like a reasonable solution to the limited parking space on campus. However, it has proven to be impractical for many students.
One of the main issues is the additional time it takes for students to commute. What is supposed to be a straightforward drive to school has turned into a multi-step process, which adds more stress to the student’s mornings. Students are advised to “be at the remote lot no later than 7:15 am to make sure they are on time for their first-hour class,” according to the administration. Students have to arrive 30 minutes before first period starts and thus students have to wake up earlier than they would if they could drive directly to school, and while it may not sound like much, for sleep deprived students 30 more minutes of sleep makes a difference.
“It’s better than not having any parking options, but it’s still very inconvenient for a lot of students. The parking lot has so many extra steps that take up time I can’t afford to miss,” junior Vanessa Walchli said.
Still, the remote lot makes some students’ lives easier, as they now are more independent, and can make it easier for them to get to after school activities, practices or jobs without someone else having to drive them.
The situation becomes even more complicated for students involved in sports and other extracurricular activities after school. The additional step of taking the bus to retrieve their cars from the parking lot only delays them further, which can take away from valuable time of the activity students have after school.
Some student athletes don’t have enough time between school and practice to get their car from the lot, so they have to contact the Deans to gain permission to go to the junior lot during lunch and bring their cars to the school. “Last year, since I had practice after school, I would have to get my car during lunch and I would lose basically the whole lunch period to do it. It sucked because lunch was the only time during the day I could be with my friends,” senior Arianna Borhan said.
While the administration’s efforts to manage parking on campus are understandable, the junior lot has proven to be beneficial for some students but not for many others. Nonetheless, there are no better options at the moment since per the City of Plantation. “We cannot use the Calvary Church lot because we are not allowed to interrupt traffic patterns more than a certain number of times per year,” Dean Nolle said. Due to city building codes, the garage cannot have any additional floors where juniors could park. Before the garage was built, juniors would park across the street, and they would disrupt traffic by double parking on curbs down the highway. It appears the only option for the juniors is to stick with the remote lot.
After the final bell, students take the shuttle bus to get to the remote lot, and some go on to other activities, such as athletic practice. “I get 10 to 15 minutes late to [practice] most days because we need to take the bus and all. It’s very inconvenient,” junior Lizzy Schenker, said. (Photo/Elizabeth Schenker)
