Twenty five minutes until school starts, a newly licensed sophomore at Broomfield High School gathers up his things and rushes out the door to his car. Exceeding the speed limit, he easily makes the five minute drive to school in three. As he cruises past the senior lot, he notices maybe half of the parking spots are taken. But, approaching the intersection of Daphne Street and Eagle Way, he realizes he is too late; it’s 7:08 and all of the street-side spots are full. Resigned to park on Miramonte, he recalls the half-filled senior lot, angrily grabs his bags from the passenger seat and treks across the practice field to school, wondering how seniority parking ever became an unequivocal right at Broomfield.

Parking in the senior lot has long been an unspoken rite of passage obtained in the final year at Broomfield High; sophomores and juniors long for the day they don’t have to walk, for what seems like a mile, to get to and from their car at school. But why should the seniors have exclusive access to the close lot? With the exception of senior citizen and handicap parking, if a student wants to drive anywhere else, there are no rewards for being a year or two older than the person in the next car over. All able-bodied people are required to park in the same spots as everybody else. Despite the parking space rights in the whole rest of the world, the seniors at Broomfield High are very protective of “their” parking lot.

By daily observation, the 250 spaces in the senior lot are only ever full when there are home football and soccer games, or during other large events hosted at the school. Due to Broomfield High School’s open campus, many of the seniors leave the building for one or two off-periods daily. This leaves the lot almost completely empty in the two or three back rows at all times of day, as well as closer-in spots throughout the day.

“I don’t understand why our school does this. It doesn’t utilize space very well and if I get to school early, I should be allowed to park wherever I want,” sophomore Jared Licht said, addressing the number of unoccupied parking spaces in the senior lot throughout the day.

In an attempt to fill these spots, Broomfield High School granted the students in the junior class with the highest grade point averages permission to purchase a senior lot pass, an initiative that angered many seniors. Despite having a senior lot sticker displayed on their front windshield, many juniors’ cars have been graffitied with vulgar images and advice to “get out” drawn on with window markers. Others’ cars have been floured, covered in a variety of foodstuffs from oreos to chewed up gum, and even keyed or purposely damaged.

The lack of available parking spaces for sophomores and juniors places students in dangerous circumstances, requiring the most inexperienced drivers to partake in one of the most challenging tasks involved in driving; parallel parking. Cars are regularly dented and scratched when the 16 year old driver of a giant Ford Explorer just has to try and squeeze into a spot on Daphne Street that’s barely big enough for a Mazda3. Additionally, students exiting their vehicles on the street are put in a precarious position if either they, or the person approaching in a car, are distracted or simply not paying attention.
Why should the senior class be sanctioned access to easier and safer parking spots while the rest of the student body struggles to secure a street spot, even though there are many extra spaces in the senior lot? It may be time for these regulations to be revised to enable a more equitable first come, first serve parking system.