Parking lots of money

For $40, you can buy a new pair of shoes, fill up your gas tank, enjoy a nice meal out or you can pay for you student parking permit.

In order to park in the student parking lot without getting booted, a $40 parking permit must be purchased. While this fee seems pretty pricey, the money helps pay the parking lot attendant Henry Foster and other expenses related to parking.

“The reason why a parking lot attendant is so important is because we only have one officer on our campus and she obviously can’t be everywhere and we want to have a point of contact outside for student’s safety,” AP LaToya Easter said. “It’s not just about keeping you guys from leaving the campus, that is a part of it, but it’s also about students’ safety.”

Much of the $40 goes towards the golf cart and upkeep as well as Foster’s salary. He makes sure people are where they’re supposed to be, he directs traffic before and after school, and makes sure no one is breaking into the cars and stealing.

“It’s important because it helps keep our security officer here on our campus to help watch the cars and such,” AP secretary April Cmet said. “But a lot of it goes to the safety to watch over and make sure no one is coming on our campus that shouldn’t be and those who are trying to leave campus when they aren’t supposed to be.”

Having a parking lot attendant is not required, but it is completely up to the school or district. All LISD schools, Rouse, Leander, Vista Ridge, Cedar Park and Vandegrift have a parking permit fee of $40.

Photo by Jordan Buie
“I think that it is very important to pay this fee and I know that it’s $40 and that is a hard price to pay,” Easter said. “But at the end of the day, it would have helped other schools, if when something had happened that there would have been an extra set of eyes on campus and to help make the campus as secure as possible.”

However, other districts in the Austin area have varying prices. Connally and Stony Point High School only charge $20 for their parking permits. Westwood and Cedar Ridge permits are $25.

“I think $40 is a fair amount for the permit for the whole year,” senior Janice McLaughlin said. “But I would prefer to not have to pay for a parking permit.”

With 559 parking permits sold this year that means that a total of $22,360 has been put toward the parking lot and keeping Foster here.

“I would pay and I’ll tell you why, I get to see the other side of things,” Easter said. “It’s not arbitrary that it’s $40, that amount came from a budget in order to cover a cost.”