by Moriah Schranz

As construction on the new Maury High School building begins, difficulties have arisen. 

The construction company has set up its base of operations in the student parking lot, and with construction underway around the lot, fewer parking spots are available for students. 

Maury High School principal Karen Berg explained the current situation.

“We told the construction company how many parking decals we had, and that’s how they determined how many spots we needed.”

At the beginning of the year, student drivers were asked to fill out a form to receive a bright orange parking decal. This decal also lets the administration know how many cars should be in the parking lot. 

However, many students have not yet filled out these forms, yet they still park in the student parking lot, creating a discrepancy between the form submissions and the existing student drivers. Principal Berg wants to crack down on these unregistered cars so that there is enough space for everyone. 

“We’ll start putting notes on the cars that need the decal,” Berg said. “Then I can go back to the construction company and say logistically, I need 20 more spots, because now these students have registered their vehicles.”

Senior Adelaide Page bought a senior parking spot earlier this year. Construction destroyed her parking spot within a month of purchase. As compensation, Maury has added the $25 parking spot fee to her prom ticket. 

Even though she was compensated, Adelaide was still a bit upset over the destruction of her parking spot. 

“It took me like five hours to paint the parking spot and then they just got rid of it.”

Many students have chosen to park on the street rather than in the parking lot, but this has caused problems. Much of this street parking is residential, and numerous students have received parking tickets. If students have a free bell and come late to school, there are often no more parking spots left in the student parking lot. This has led to kids exhibiting inadequate behavior.

“We had a student park in the library handicapped spot,” Berg said. “The library sent me an email; they’re like, ‘Can you look up this tag?’ I called the classroom, and I said, ‘You’d better get your car moved. That’s a $350 ticket.’”

Principal Berg also shared an issue with arrivals and dismissals. 

“There have been two car accidents because everybody’s in such a hurry, and it’s more crowded with less space,” Berg said. 

Senior Drew Nottingham was involved in one of these car accidents.

 “It was my fault because I was in such a rush. I parked in the street to avoid the traffic and collided with a girl leaving the parking lot.” 

Senior Sophia Sadr expressed her difficulties with parking in the street. 

“They close off the parking lot after school for the buses, so you don’t get out of school until like 2:15,” said Sadr. “If you try to park on the street near the parking lot to avoid that, your car gets hit.” 

Principal Berg has a genuine interest in addressing the disorder and doing so soon. She emphasized the need for students to have parking decals.

“I think we added maybe 10 or 12 extra spots for the kids who hadn’t gotten a decal,” said Berg.

While the construction of our new school has led to some difficulties, there is still excitement in the air for the end goal of a new school.