Tahoma High School’s parking lot—why do we have so many issues with it? Why does it take forever to get out, and why do most of the student drivers at the school hate it?

Some of the most frequently mentioned problems that I’ve heard from students are that it’s way too crowded and impossible to get out.

Chloe Smith, a Tahoma senior, added, “It’s always packed when I leave school, and I hate that we only have one exit, it’s a big school so it’s kinda stupid.”

Having one exit and leaving right after school ends are the two major problems that we have with the parking lot.

 Well, think about it, you are putting a bunch of teenagers with very little driving experience into a confined space where they are getting pressured to park fast while reversing into their parking spot, all while other students are walking all around them. 

This is a very stressful situation for many of the younger juniors and future sophomores who will be getting their parking pass.

Another issue that students are worrying about is getting their cars damaged while they’re in class, but it seems that it’s something very minor that we shouldn’t stress about. 

Ms. Weihe, Tahoma High School’s security officer, stated that from the start of November to the 13th of the same month, there was only one incident reported.

 Although some incidents may go unreported, most of the accidents in the past years have only been minor scratches or fender benders, so most of us shouldn’t have to worry.

What are some issues that staff say about the parking lot? 

Ms. Weihe says, “We could definitely use more spots,” as well as, “30 minutes before and 30 minutes after, it seems like it’s super busy.” 

Her remedy to this issue would be for students to “learn to have patience because we would love to have it bigger, but we would still have to funnel out all students into the one lane to the main road.”

Some of the students had to say that we should add another exit, but that’s something that would require the whole parking lot to shut down while still having the need for students to merge onto the main road.

So the best solution to that problem would just be, as Ms. Weihe said, “Having more patience.”

Apart from not having enough spots and only having one exit that all the students have to exit through, the most common problem that students are having is parking tickets. 

There are lots of ways students can get a ticket, from parking where they shouldn’t to not having a parking pass.

 It’s recommended that all student drivers should get a pass because it will prevent the hassle of having your car towed. 

The way this happens is after getting your third ticket because of the lack of a parking pass to get your fourth if you have one. 

The highest number of tickets given out in one day was 74, so please do the school and yourself a favor, get your parking pass!