School to increase ticketing in parking lot

Complaints by students have led school authorities to request that the Los Altos Police Department (LAPD) tickets students who park illegally or without permits in the school parking lot. This will continue as the school works with the police in an effort to, according to Assistant Principal Cristy Dawson, “step it up” with the ticketing process.

Tickets issued have been between $30 and $35.

“Typically the staff at the high school will notify us when it looks like there are a lot of vehicles that are parked illegally, and we’ll go out and do some enforcement action,” School Resource Officer Mark Laranjo said.

The parking issue is “the same as it is every year,” according to Dawson. This is because parking spaces are limited, and many students with permits are not able to find a place in the lot. As a result, students have been creating illegal spots, which administrators say has angered students.

“It’s highly frustrating for people who have paid,” Dawson said. “I want [parking] to be equitable, and I want kids who come here and have a permit to be able to park. It’s fair.”

Many students who do not have permits and sophomores who have recently begun to drive are parking in the student lot without permission, limiting the spaces available to those with permits.

Because of the lack of space in the lot, several permitted students, staff and substitutes with permits or designated spots are parking illegally and have been ticketed.

“[Ticketing] is something that we’ve always done to make sure that there are students out there not abusing parking privileges,” Laranjo said.
According to Laranjo, the LAPD has received some complaints in the past. However, the officer said he considers the parking enforcement system effective.

The LAPD has a list of students with permits which they check to make sure that students who park in the lot are legally doing so.

Administrators said that they are trying to work towards a solution.

“I have to ticket so that illegal parking is thwarted,” Dawson said. “In the meantime, unfortunately, there are some repercussions.”

Many students with parking permits do not feel that it is fair for them to be ticketed in this particular situation.

Senior Adi Yogev has a student parking permit but was ticketed for parking in a staff spot.

“It’s unfair–what else was I supposed to do?” Adi said. “I’m not going to park off campus if I have a permit. I was mad that I got a ticket because when you buy your permit you are supposed to be guaranteed a spot. It sucks because I waited an hour in line and spent $25 on a permit so that I wouldn’t get ticketed, and apparently it was just a waste of money and time.”

According to an anonymous female senior who parks in the lot without a permit, “selling parking permits only on one day isn’t fair.”

The senior has never been ticketed for parking in the lot without a permit and said she “didn’t think it was a big deal because there were a lot of empty parking spaces.”

The school is currently working on a plan to combat the parking issue next year.

“The way [the administration and LAPD] is doing it now obviously isn’t preventing enough people without permits from parking in the lot and is only screwing over people like me who had no choice,” Adi said.