The days of San Marin students paying hundreds of dollars for a single parking spot are no longer.
In the past, Leadership auctioned off the top 50 senior parking spots; the rest were sold at a set price before school on a first-come, first-served basis, eliminating the auction aspect from the process.
Having a system that is entireley first-come, first- served works to make buying a parking spot more fair for everyone. By making all parking spots one price, everyone is allowed a fair chance at getting a spot close to the front.
“We want to make it more equitable for everyone because there are a lot of students who can’t pay the $300 at the auction,” junior Reese Cordero said. “Which doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t deserve a good spot just because they can’t pay that money.”
Senior Robyn Courteau agrees that the new system is more fair compared to the old one. Courteau came to school at 5:30 a.m. last spring and received spot number 115, one of the last spots in the senior lot.
“I prefer the new way. I think it gives everyone an equal opportunity to get a spot… Even though we [my friends and I] showed up at 5:30, we barely got the last few spots,” Courteau said.
Last year, due to students camping out on schools grounds illegally the night before, North Bay Security removed students who were on campus early in tents and chairs trying to ensure a good parking spot. To prevent this from happening again this year, all parts of the process will be done with Google Forms.
This system determines the order of spots, so the junior who submits the form first will purchase the first spot. To begin the process of acquiring a senior parking spot, current juniors will need to fill out a Google Form, released on Friday, May 2, with all their legalities including driver’s license and insurance.
This first form is due by Wednesday, May 21. Once filled out, students will receive a second link that opens at 4 a.m. on Saturday, May 24, asking for their name, phone number, and email.
On Friday, May 30, parking spots will be given out by Leadership at 7:30 a.m. at San Marin.
