Park City High School’s $150 parking passes must be purchased in person. The 750 permits are sold using a seniority system with a day designated for each class: seniors have first dibs, then juniors and sophomores.
Junior Lila Owen is the student representative for the Park City School District’s Board of Education. She told board members Aug. 25 that students employed new strategies this year to get a coveted high school lot pass.
“Especially for juniors getting their parking passes, it was insane. People sleeping overnight,” she said. “I got there at 4:30 a.m., but it didn't really matter because there was a stampede once the teachers showed up.”
The district sold 550 parking passes this year. There are 450 permits for high school lots and 100 for the nearby Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lot. There are 200 passes available for the Treasure Mountain Sports Complex next to McPolin Elementary, but parking is limited there due to construction.
Owen said the student government team and high school leadership are now trying to find a better way.
The group is considering awarding passes using a lottery system instead. Priority would be given to seniors as usual. Owen said student attendance could be an added factor.
Traffic has also been an issue. Superintendent Lyndsay Huntsman told KPCW the district is considering adding parking monitors to guide drivers after school.
“What we're looking at is potentially positioning one of our staff, along with our [Student Resource Officer], within our own parking lot to stop our students, which will then allow our buses to exit safely onto Kearns Boulevard,” she said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Aug. 27.
There have been issues with students tailgating buses as they leave campus, which creates slowdowns on the main roadway.
