by Katherine Green, photos by Katie Hornbeck

Sitting in advisory waiting for lunch, sophomore Machella Dunlea listened to announcements on the intercom regarding prayer and upcoming events. However, the number of announcements calling students to the office to pick up parking tickets and move their cars seems to have increased according to Dunlea.

Although students like Dunlea think the increasing number of parking tickets are due to fewer parking spaces, that is not the case. According to STA president Nan Bone the school has not removed any parking, STA has just substituted some for this year’s new carpool program.

“Everybody tends to park where it’s most convenient for them and I get that, we do the same thing at a mall,” Bone said. “I’m not going to park six blocks away. [The students are] racing to get into that [convenient] spot, and where the girls were parking who are using the carpool spots, their [prior] spots are open now, too.”

She also said that she thinks the cause of the illegal parking at STA is that the students want to be closer to their first class or their advisory.

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Although the number of tickets may have increased, Bone believes that the parking violations are around the same number students had last year. However, the difference this year is that the school is checking the parking lot more often.

“For example, last year a student may have parked in an illegal parking spot multiple times before getting a parking ticket, if they ever did,” Bone said. “This year the school is checking the parking lot at least once a week.”

Therefore, there are more announcements about parking than there were last year. However, a new addition to the announcement is the possibility of being towed. Although this has been said, Bone says the school will try and not let it get to that.

“If you’ve been given a ticket, and you’ve been notified and this is your third offense, then maybe [you’ll get towed],” Bone said. “I’m hoping we don’t have to do that but, if someone is going to be stubborn about it, then I say it is a last resort.”

Students can get two tickets, one for not having a parking pass and also one for parking illegally. Students such as Dunlea have gotten parking tickets and have paid $10 for each one.

According to Bone, until students stop illegally parking, the school will continue to do regular parking-lot checks.