Next year, the price of parking is set to rise to $180. This 80 percent increase is unnecessary and inconvenient for students who are planning to drive to school next year. There are currently 582 parking spots. The price increase would generate an additional $46,560, bringing the total to $104,760. However, this is neither the correct way nor the ethical way to generate revenue for Rockwood.

“The increase will cover maintenance and generate revenue for the district,” Jon Schultz, junior principal, said. “The district has had multiple meetings to discuss cost cutting measures and ways to generate revenue.  The board approved the parking increase as one of the measures to stabilize the budget. The money will be divided between maintenance, safety, and student activities.”

If students are going to pay for the lot, only students should use the lot. It is not fair for the students to pay for spots when other people use them as well.

During sports events and other popular school events, the parking lot is packed. It is highly unlikely that all of the cars parked during these events belong to MHS students.

I propose that during non-school hours, the parking lot ought to be gated off. However, this could be averted by having patrons pay to park in the student lot during popular events. Another proposal is by increasing the price for tickets for school events to help pay for the parking. By instituting these alternatives, the rise in parking prices for students would be unnecessary.

Also, as explained by Schultz, the additional funds will be used toward maintenance, safety, and student activities. Students aren’t obliged to provide funding for maintenance and safety; that is the purpose of property tax.

Furthermore, school officials think that students parking at school if a privilege; however, this is not the case. If every student utilized the bus, our buses would be packed to the limit.

Although there are enough buses for every student to ride the bus, an overcrowded bus would not be a comfortable ride. By having students drive to school, they are overall making the buses less populated.

Therefore, parking isn’t a privilege to the students who park at school; it is a privilege to the students who ride the bus.