Many high school students in the U.S. use their newly issued permits and licenses to drive to and from school everyday; some of these schools contain parking lots for their students to park during school — others do not. Franklin has two parking lots; however, both are for staff only. This leads to students parking in the neighboring streets, which causes nearby streets to be packed, making before and after school traffic a struggle.
This sparked our idea for either of the parking lots to be extended into Clinton Park. The parking lot would then meet the needs of all students and staff, and make streets less busy. Extending a parking lot into Clinton Park would not only help students, but would help staff, because of their limited space to park. Improving the size of the parking lot would alleviate students from their parking struggles into an organized system that ensures safety. In addition, having a student parking lot could reduce the majority of the school’s traffic.
Franklin creating a student parking lot would be a long and hard process, but not impossible. Javier Huerta, a counselor at Franklin, suggests the reason behind Franklin’s lack of a student parking lot could be because either “it wasn’t in the budget when the remodel occurred, that they ran out of money, or they ran out of space.” This causes us to wonder why the school hasn’t had fundraisers or explored alternative solutions for the student parking lot. Huerta continues to say that the parking situation we have currently “does not meet the parking needs of the staff or student population.”
The parking situation for staff isn’t often recognized. Sometimes, the staff don’t have the parking spaces designated to them because of limited space. This means the extension of the parking lot into Clinton Park could benefit both parties. Huerta adds that students getting designated parking spaces could mean students get to class sooner. He believes the parking lot would also benefit teachers in ways, such as knowing “when they arrive at Franklin, there would still be a spot for them.” Because of the limited space, staff sometimes have to park several blocks away. Although having a parking lot for students might be good, Huerta also believes this could be “another location for students to avoid classes and would require additional staff supervision.”
Scott Barrentine, a science teacher at Franklin, states that a parking lot wouldn’t be good for the environment because it would “encourage people to drive.” He isn’t wrong, but there could be positive impacts too. For example, instead of making the parking lot only for cars, we could add more bicycle stands for students who don’t drive, to encourage students to take their bike instead. Barrentine also believes the reason behind Franklin not having a bigger parking lot is because the budget may not have covered it when the school was being remodeled. Barrentine continues, explaining, “Stuff in the building, classrooms, things like that would be a higher priority.” Barrentine also thinks it would be a “tough sell” for Franklin to make students a parking lot due the fact that students are provided free TriMet bus passes by the district, meaning many students aren’t dependent on cars.
The chaos in the morning and after school are clear indicators that Franklin should create a bigger parking lot for students. Beyond traffic, there is a risk of hitting cars, sideswiping, and bigger accidents that could possibly occur when 50 cars are trying to get out at the same time. Personally I (Addy) have been side swiped and hit in front of Franklin, in the morning rush , due to the extra traffic from the little space availableAfter school, there are students crossing the street without looking and cars rushing to get home, both of which cause traffic jams and frustrate the entirety of the Franklin community.
Makenzie Bradshaw, a senior at Franklin, experiences morning and after school traffic commotion everyday. When asked what her thoughts are on a parking lot extension, Bradshaw states, “Yes of course! I think our school should have an extended parking lot for so many reasons. Not only do we have a lot of students in our school compared to some other schools, a lot of students have their own car, or are about to get one, or [are] just started learning how to drive.” She points out how new drivers might feel when leaving. “The driving situation is very complicated because our school is in a popular area and new drivers on the road get anxious or start to panic because [they’re] in a tight place” We agreed that there would be many benefits to making a bigger parking lot. Bradshaw says, “To be completely honest, I feel like the benefits would be equally the same for everyone.” She expresses that if we extended the parking lots, there would be less of a hassle for these students. “It would be way easier to do things like leaving after school … pick ups, and drop offs,” Bradshaw adds.
In summary, Franklin should invest in a bigger parking lot because it’ll create a safer environment for students, staff, and parents. The parking lot could build a sense of community and assure students are on time to class. This could help create a system for people who drive and people who don’t. When people have a late start to their morning, they wouldn’t have to worry about parking five blocks away because they could have a safe parking lot close to their school.
