Every day, students at Camas High School (CHS) run into parking issues; primarily the lack of parking spots available.
Running Start students who attend Clark College and CHS are the primary group affected by the lack of parking in the CHS parking lots. This is because many of these students do not get to CHS until much later in the day, after most of the parking spots have been filled.
“If I don’t get here [about] an hour before my class starts, I literally don’t get a spot,” CHS junior Jenna Naron said.
Naron also recalled one instance where there were not any student spots, so in order to attend class, she parked in the visitors’ lot. Naron was subsequently ticketed $10.
Several other students have expressed concern about parking spot availability. Many have resorted to parking in the staff to attend class on time.
Oftentimes, warning tickets are issued to students who have parked in reserved parking spots because the occurrence has become so common.
“It’s horrible…I have to get to school 45 minutes before class starts, and sometimes I still don’t get a spot,” CHS junior Kalli True said.
Additionally, Cascadia Tech students and Running Start students are provided one lot for both programs to share.
“There are designated spots, but again there’s nowhere else to go if we don’t get in and so I’ve had to park where I’m not allowed to and it makes it more difficult,” CHS junior Celisse Thompson said.
“I have a sixth period at CHS so by the time I get here, there are never any spots in the designated lot,” CHS junior Shalaka Deshpande said.
In addition to not having spots available upon arrival, many students have mentioned that a parking lot that is consistently packed full can contribute to student tardiness.
Currently, staff are unable to park in their reserved lot due to the construction on the roof at CHS. As a result, a handful of staff members have resorted to parking in the student lots, dwindling the number of available parking spots even more.
Through a variety of reasons, students at CHS constantly question why there are not more parking spaces open to students.
