GHS Parking: Solved or Still a Problem?

The GHS parking lot is infamous for its lack of space. This has  been a problem since more and more students have returned to school. As of fall 2023 the school has issued parking passes to all driving upperclassmen. However, this solution still leaves several students dissatisfied with the parking situation as it fails to consider how the underclassmen will find a spot for their car, a necessity in Bozeman, Montana where a lot of students live rurally and find themselves unable to walk or bike to school.

On August 17th Cindy Reuter sent out an email essentially stating that due to a lack of parking spaces, only upperclassmen would be issued parking passes that would allow them access to the main parking lots and some rows in the teacher lots. This was put into motion September 6th when students got their parking passes from principal Erica Schnee. However, this meant that the underclassmen would be forced to park on the streets nearby the school. As sophomore Grant Clark says, when asked what he thought the class of 2026 in general thought on the matter, he stated, “The sophomores are not a fan of the parking arrangement.”

Overall Principal Schnee would agree with the fact that sophomores aren’t happy. In an interview with her she revealed that several students have reached out to complain about the matter and even some parents of students. Overall Schnee’s opinion on the matter is that “It’s working pretty well, there’s still some issues.” This makes sense as most upperclassmen find themselves able to park as long as they arrive at school in a timely manner. However, this initial success may start to change once winter comes around. In Montana, we receive heavy snowfall and this doesn’t go away overnight. While our school does a great job of making most spots available to students and maintaining the parking lot in the winter, spots still end up blocked by heavy snow. This may very well mean that more upperclassmen will have to park on Annie Street leaving less spots there for underclassmen. 

In general, it seems that no one can come up with a better solution. Schnee says that she receives numerous complaints about the parking but rarely a possible solution for the situation. In the past it’s been discussed that we could have put a parking lot behind the GHS track however when this was investigated further it was found that we could not put a lot there due to unlevel grounds and draining issues. Schnee also goes to state that she is fully willing to hear any input at all or any possible solutions to the parking lot. She looks to improve the situation for everyone. She is also open to a reevaluation in the spring on the parking lot, based on how the current solution works, and possible solutions that community members, StuCo, and students provide. 

While this situation mainly affects underclassmen, who's to say that the Freshman and Sophmores won’t change their minds later on when they are the ones that reap the benefits? Clark thinks that “As an upperclassman I’d just be more in favor of being able to park in the lots.” As a school it would work better if we stopped complaining and instead worked towards solutions that benefited the whole school. Remember, there are resources to reach out to help share your voice and opinion on the matter and our principal is ready to listen and discuss possible solutions as well. This is a first solution and if the parking lot still remains a major issue, the school can always reconsider and settle on a better solution. Nothing is set in stone.