Colonia High School instituted a new parking rule for both seniors and faculty. Previously, Colonia High School only required seniors to use the decals. This year faculty were added to that list.
For the past few years, Colonia has been using decals for the seniors to identify their cars at school. The faculty has now started using the decals for safety reasons according to Mrs. Jennifer Murphy, Colonia High School’s Vice Principal. Murphy stated, “With the new decals now we know who really are supposed to be parking on the premises.”
For many teachers the parking decals didn’t really affect their parking at school, nor did it affect their wallets. The parking decal is free for the faculty and five dollars for the seniors. The money raised goes to the senior class to assist with paying for the prom.
For seniors there were a few requirements to get the parking decal. They had to bring in a completely filled out parking permit form. Accompanying that, students also had to bring in their driver’s license, the vehicle registration (or a copy), and lastly the payment for the decal.
The parking decals must be placed in the passenger side rear view window of every car that takes advantage of parking at CHS. Colonia officials started checking for decals September 15, 2015 just 13 days after the first day of school and the same day they went on sale. Every vehicle without the decal after September 15th will face disciplinary actions if parked in the CHS parking lot during school hours. Students can be subjected disciplinary actions if they do not have a decal.
The decals at Colonia have been around for a while. Colonia’s class of 2014 also had to use the decals with the same requirements and the same fee of five dollars. According to alumni Kimanni Westbrook, graduate of CHS’s 2014 class.
Besides the decals, parking at CHS is on a first come first serve basis. Seniors have free range when parking while faculty has their own parking lot. Parking at CHS is sometimes a hassle with its cul-de-sac perimeter that many cars use to park. For some students, getting there early was your best bet. Westbrook said, “If you wanted to get a good parking spot at Colonia High School, you would have to get there almost twenty minutes before the bell.”
For Mr. Jefferson Davis, a history teacher at Colonia High School, he doesn’t face any problems parking in the school provided parking lot. A lot of the teachers arrive at school early on a regular basis to take care of what they need for their first block classes, so waking up a little extra early for a parking spot isn’t an issue for them. Also, teachers are contractually required to be at the AM duty by 7:30 AM.
Leaving the school is a different story. While students and faculty don’t have to worry about getting a spot, they do have to worry about the school buses. The buses for students who don’t drive to school line up after school alongside a part of the perimeter, awaiting the last bell. With this, commotion follows since everyone is trying to leave at once.
