A number of RM juniors and seniors drive to school, and a primary consideration for many is where they should park. RM provides parking spaces for students, which seniors can apply for once in the beginning of the school year and a second time in December. Because RM has a very limited amount of parking spots, this can be a competitive process.
RM’s financial specialist Ana Chavez explained the application process. After seniors are informed of student application availability at the finance office window, they will have around one week to submit their applications to Ms. Chavez for review. “The next step involves forwarding applications to our security supervisor to review each application for any parking violations. Finally, our twelfth grade administrator will evaluate each application and make the final decision,” Ms. Chavez said.
Seniors who do not receive a parking pass and juniors who drive are allowed to park on the streets around RM. Many students have expressed frustration about parking outside of school spots, and its difficulty.
“I park along the street, [and] it’s definitely not easy to park. In order to secure a spot, you need to leave home very early and then it’s still a bit of a walk to get to school,” junior An Tran said.
“There are good places behind the school near the track but since there are so many drivers that also is usually taken up,” junior Natalia Compean said.
Parking is also becoming increasingly difficult for students who have school parking passes.
“I have a parking pass. It used to be easy but as time has gone on more and more people without parking passes have been parking in those spots. Sometimes visitors decide to park in them, or substitutes. It’s super unfair. If I’m paying for a parking pass, I feel like I should get the parking spot I’m paying for,” senior Susanna Hubacker said.
These parking difficulties have heightened many students’ sense of disappointment with lack of more school-provided parking spaces.
“I hate that there are such limited parking lot spaces. There’s way more than 30 students driving to school, and while I don’t think there needs to be a spot for each of them, there should definitely be more,” junior Christina Rossi said.
Many agree that the low number of available parking passes has caused frustration. Compean said, “I think it’s pretty ridiculous that there are only 30 parking spots for students knowing that they have a very large number of people attending the school. But 30 just seems like a very low stretch for the high demand of students who are getting their licenses or already have them,”
Some students have expressed that they hope RM could find a way to increase the number of parking spots.
“There needs to be more parking, MCPS needs to do something ASAP. Like buy a chunk of the bank lot or something, or make a garage,” junior Heather Feuerstein said.
Ms. Chavez explained why there are so few parking spots, and highlighted some new changes.
“As a result of an increase in staff numbers and portable classrooms, the availability of parking spots for students had [previously] been reduced to just 30,” Ms. Chavez said. “Fortunately, the City of Rockville has devised a solution to alleviate the issue. Beginning this spring semester, students will have access to 15 additional parking spots. Students approved for a parking permit will be informed of the designated parking areas, and the City of Rockville Police Meter Enforcement will be tasked with ensuring compliance.”
Moreover, according to Ms. Chavez, students who park in these designated parking spots without approval will risk receiving a fine and those who park in school parking lots could be towed or ticketed at their expense.
Many students have some questions and concerns about how recipients of parking passes are chosen.
“If I understand the process correctly, do they prioritize people that do just sports? In my opinion that’s a bit unfair. There are many year round activities that require staying after school that may not be considered,” Tran said.
Compean said, “I don’t really know the process of getting a parking pass, but I’m sure it’s catered to students who are more involved. I think it should be a random pick to make it fair to students.”
In order to obtain a parking pass students are required to be seniors, have a GPA of 2.0 or above, have no outstanding obligations and have no parking violations from the past semester, according to Ms. Chavez.
There are also other factors considered in order to receive permits. “Apart from meeting the eligibility requirements, the issuance of parking permits will follow three criteria. First, handicapped students will be given priority. Second, students participating in dual enrollment or attending classes in institutions other than Edison HS will be considered. Lastly, students participating in extracurricular activities such as sports and clubs that require them to remain on-campus at least three days a week will also be considered,” Ms. Chavez said.
If you would like to voice your opinion on an issue you feel is relevant to our community, please do so here. Anyone is able and welcome to submit a Letter to the Editor, regardless of journalistic experience or writing skills. Submissions will be published either online or in a print issue.
