LC parking a problem

Last year, arriving in the second student parking lot at Lewis and Clark High School from 7:30 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. guaranteed students a parking spot. Now, arriving at 7:20 a.m. guarantees neither a parking spot in the second lot or a spot in the dwindling number of free street parking spots. The meters added to the side streets this summer require upward of $5 to cover a full school day of parking. If a student parks at the meters every day for a week, the total cost would come to $25.

The city claims the lots are failing to fill up, while the only lot that fails to fill up on a regular basis is the extra teacher lot. The school suggests students get to school earlier, but with students arriving earlier, the school faces two problems:

Arriving at school around 7 a.m. means students are waking up earlier, cutting back on their already short sleeping hours; and once winter sets in and the streets become impossible to park on, students will have no choice but to park in the lots, creating a serious problem.

Give these students a break. Let the school-issued parking passes qualify at the meters during school hours.

Erin Zamora

Spokane