BAD DAYS ON BAMMEL

Story By Ben Newman

Early in October, junior Sydni Fullmighter, was one of many students approaching their cars after school to find a parking ticket tucked inside the windshield wiper. All these students were fined for the same offense: parking on Bammel Lane, a street adjacent to the school.

The sudden enforcement of parking restrictions came as quite a surprise to many students, including junior Sadie Grundy.

“The police have to know that we are students because of how close we are to Lamar and the fact that we are only there during school hours,” Grundy said. “When I got my parking ticket I was in shock. I could not believe that a police officer would go out of their way to go to a school and ticket children.”

The tickets also caused a very expectant uproar among the students.

“It’s very upsetting when you come out from a long day of school and then there’s a ticket on your windshield,” Fullmighter said.

Many students see no issue with parking on Bammel and view the no parking signs as unusual.

“I don’t really see an issue with students parking on the curb,” Fullmighter said. “I think the no parking signs are put in really inconvenient places. It’s not really that bothersome to Bammel as long as we’re using our common sense and not parking in places where we know it is inconvenient- which I haven’t seen anyone do.”

Fullmighter is also one of many students backed into a corner when it comes to finding a place to park at school.

“I don’t have one of those stickers to park in the garage because my parents can’t pay for a spot,” Fullmighter said. “There are streets other than Bammel to park on but I live far away from the school and I am usually running late.”

The alternate options for parking around Lamar are extremely sparse.

“There is no legal, free parking within a five minute walking distance of the school,” Grundy said. “You can either park illegally and get to school on time or park multiple blocks away.”

Outside of that five minute radius, options are failing to meet the needs of the students.

“Even a couple blocks down, there’s always going to be no parking zones around that area,” senior Katalina Contreras said. “There are no parking signs on most of the streets in the neighborhood and if everyone were to park in the zones without them, they would undoubtedly fill up very fast.”

Overall, this amounts to a system that punishes low-income students the most.

“If you’re a student who is unable to pay for a parking spot, then the chances are you have to park on the street and you are at risk of getting a ticket” senior Tatiana Rashidian said. “Obviously, this is a disadvantage to those who are economically challenged. Students who have more money can either get a parking spot at Lamar or they can park on the street and afford to pay a ticket.”

Numerous students have come up with alternative ideas for what the school can do to better accommodate students and fix this issue.

“I feel like the school should make parking more accessible toward all students,” Contreras said. “At least allow students to park in areas around the school. They could lower the price of parking passes for the garage.”