Parking Tickets Plague Students, Teachers

Lesly Rodriguez,   Staff Reporter

Tuesday, January 4, marked the second strike on the cars parked around the LEE campus by City Police Parking Enforcement. A few weeks earlier, just before break, officers descended leaving behind dozens of parking tickets on the vehicles parked by the athletic facility and parked into the neighborhood on Orland Park. Coaches, teachers, staff, and students were charged with a $35 parking ticket for parking where they always park. 

This sudden crack down by the city is a particular problem for students who did not win a coveted parking permit for the student parking lot located in front of the new performing arts building, next to the band parking lot, on Montview Dr. which are hard to come by since there are a limited number, and priority is given to seniors. 

According to Kelly Saunders, part of the City Parking Enforcement team, “After local neighborhood locals filed multiple complaints against students parking near their property, the City Parking Enforcement has been contacting LEE High School administrators and campus police about students parking near off-campus neighborhoods.”

The parking tickets have become quite the controversy amongst students and staff since they were charged on a school day during school hours. “There’s nowhere else to park so what do they want us to do,” Britton McLean (11) said.

Coach Barrera, head softball coach, said, “I get that there are signs around the road, but they are confusing and misleading and I just interpreted it wrong.” Many agree that the city should have started with warnings, rather than moving directly to ticketing, given that people have been parking in these areas for months.