On a typical day at RMHS, the community faces a common struggle: showing up in the parking lot just before 8:30 AM, scanning the lot for a space and not finding one, parking on the street, and getting a tardy. Every day at RMHS, the conditions of vehicle parking are under scrutiny by students and staff alike.
With only 283 designated student parking spaces (according to an email from administration in 2016) in the Field House and PAC lots, and around 100 more parking spaces in the main lot on Oakland Road, there is often not enough space for the entire RMHS community to park. There are 1,066 students coming to RMHS every day, 444 of whom are seniors and juniors, many of whom drive to school. This large number of student drivers, alongside around 100 faculty members working at the school, results in the parking lots quickly filling up as drivers try to get into the building on time.
While parking is already an issue in the early months of the school year, by the time winter comes around, the lots reach pandemonium as more juniors and sophomores get their driver’s licenses. This influx of student drivers makes parking even more of an issue in the daily lives of students and faculty.
All of this leads to frustration and tardiness. RMHS senior Griffin Haggerty has fallen victim to the struggles of parking. “I think it’s actually been pretty poor this year. I’ve been late to a good amount of classes,” said Haggerty. “It’s just too overcrowded.”
Snow in the parking lots: added confusion.
A major factor in parking is the weather. Rain or snow makes the already difficult parking process even more challenging. Administrative assistant to the principal, Ms. Kinney, notices students arriving later more frequently when the weather is poor. “I feel like, daily, a lot of seniors are late,” said Ms. Kinney. “I think because they can’t find parking. If the weather’s bad, a lot of the times, it will be more students than not.”
As Reading faced record snowfall this winter, over 60 inches, parking lots quickly became filled with snow piles, which reduced the availability of parking. More and more students were forced to park on Oakland Road, the street surrounding the PAC, and even the main lot on Oakland Road, which some view as reserved for teachers.
RMHS History teacher Mr. DeBenedictis noticed students having issues parking. “I do have kids who complain sometimes that there was no parking, or when it was snowing, that there were snow piles [in the lot]. Then they complained about finding a spot,” said Mr. DeBenedictis. “Or they got in an accident because they were trying to find a spot.”
The Past; It wasn’t always this way.
Mr. DeBenedictis witnessed another change in campus parking, especially after the old building was rebuilt, a project that started in 2004. “When I first started working here, in the old building, we had assigned spots for some teachers. There were 50 assigned spots,” Mr. DeBenedictis said. “I felt it was more democratic… at least for staff.”
Some students have even also noticed a decline in parking availability during their limited time at RMHS. Griffin Haggerty noticed this trend as well. “I don’t remember having to park on the hill [above the PAC] ever in my RMHS career until my senior year,” said Haggerty.
However, some students have consistently struggled throughout the years. Junior Daniel Pastore (’27) felt that the parking has been a consistent issue. “I know the parking lot is always busy, and it’s very poorly managed,” said Pastore. “It just takes a while to get out and to get in.”
Time to Bring Back the Permit?
As more juniors and some sophomores hit the road each spring, the battle for parking spots ranges from minor inconveniences to logistical nightmares. To address the overwhelming number of cars, students and faculty are weighing whether it’s time to bring back the old parking system or adopt a completely new one.
One of the most talked-about solutions is reinstating parking permits. Historically, RMHS utilized a permit system, which ended after the COVID-19 Pandemic. According to Ms. Kinney, students previously registered their license plate, make, and model of their car for identification purposes. As recently as 2016, the school limited parking permits to upperclassmen, leaving sophomores and some juniors to park on the street.
Mr. DeBenedictis saw various benefits during this time, stating, “It’s a form of responsibility for the students. It’s also a safety issue. He said that being able to identify cars on the property makes sure there’s not a stranger on our campus.”
However, Ms. Kinney said, “A permit didn’t necessarily mean [that upperclassman] had a spot. It’s just that we knew if this car was parked somewhere it shouldn’t have been, we could run the plate.” It was a way to keep non-affiliated community members and underclassmen from taking up parking spaces.
“Now, we can just do that with the SRO [School Resource Officer], so we don’t technically get anybody’s license plate information anymore.” This means that parking is not limited to upperclassmen; all students have the same right to a spot.
Mr. Skehan said the previous permit system was rarely enforced and felt any new systems would face the same fate: “I don’t know that they were ever enforced,” he said.
Haggerty suggested another approach, one that other high schools already utilize. Students could be asked to purchase a parking permit to guarantee a parking spot. Haggerty sees both positives and negatives to this, one being that it would be “more organized,” the other being that you’d have to be “willing to pay.”
Privilege by Grade?
Another potential action to fix the parking situation at RMHS is to organize student parking by grade level. Prioritized parking spots would be granted to seniors, then juniors, and finally sophomores.
Staff opinions on this differed: “If they have the license, everybody has a right to have a parking spot,” Ms. Kinney said.
On the contrary, Mr. Debenedictis said, “I think seniors should get first privilege and then juniors and then sophomores.”
Additionally, Haggerty agreed, “‘I think that every senior should be able to get a spot and some juniors, but I don’t think sophomores should be able to because we’ve been in the school the longest, and they still have two more years, and they’ll get their time.”
Although the permits may seem like a potential solution, other staff raised a compelling counterargument to the situation. “That’s not a bad idea. I just don’t know how enforceable it is,” said Mr. Skehan.
At the end of the day, parking is an issue all students and staff at RMHS have to deal with. Ms. Kinney, however, had a simpler solution to the struggle.
“Maybe don’t go to Bagel World on the way to school.”
