Graphic By Zoe Hoffenberg
A decision was made by the RHS Parking Committee to prohibit the girls’ swim & dive team from parking in the staff parking lot on campus this year, despite being allowed to the year prior. The swim & dive team attends practice every morning Monday-Friday from 6:45 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and then must scramble to get to school.
CJ Nickel ’25, a swimmer and carpool driver, shared their perspective, “It’s really annoying, and my carpool finds it really annoying as well because we park like four or five blocks away and then we have to walk to school, and then we’re always late.”
Nickel believes the swim team should have access to the parking lot “because we got permission last year and there were less spots and more carpool drivers. There are more spots this year and like only three carpools. So I don’t see why we shouldn’t.”
Gigi Sherwood ’24, a captain of the swim team and carpool driver, has similar ideas to Nickel about the parking issue but thinks only carpools should get spots, “I don’t think it’s necessary for individual swimmers to get parking passes, because realistically, they don’t have to wait for a carpool. They can get to school and just go straight to find parking. But those who drive a carpool, have to wait on four to six people after practice every day.”
Sherwood shared her feelings about the restrictions, “They upset me because often times in the morning, we are short on time, because our practice ends at 8:00, which is confusing, because a lot of people think that we get to the school at 8:00 or are practicing earlier, but our practice ends right at 8:00. That means that the earliest we can possibly get to the school is like 8:30.”
Sherwood continued, “I have to drop my carpool off at the front of the school. So by the time that I actually get to go find parking in the streets, I only have 5 to 10 minutes before class starts. So I’m practically running to class, it actually has made me late quite a few days this year.”
Member of the parking committee and Assistant Vice Principal Roy Merca gave his insight on the matter, “About four or five years ago, the girls’ swim team was practicing at Queen Anne and we had a lot of complaints regarding kids driving from Queen Anne and then back to Roosevelt. From here to Queen Anne I would say it’d be at least a 25 to 30 minute drive. So therefore, we said, ‘Okay, we will give you guys spots, because you guys were coming in from Queen Anne, getting here about 8:30-8:40.”
Merca explained, “Things change. This year, they’re practicing at Greenlake one mile away. The golf team would say we want parking spots, because we go all the way to Jackson, and that’s, let’s say, a 15 minute drive. Other sports would say we should be able to park because the swim team can park. We said no to everybody.” Merca shared that “every single student at Roosevelt has access to ORCA cards, why are we catering for kids that have cars? Is it a privilege?”
There are opposing opinions on this issue; the carpool drivers expressed their frustrations about the parking restrictions, and Merca shared his insight of the issue of equality behind them. With the swim season coming to an end, there has not yet been a uniformly agreed on solution for this problem, and the swimmers hope for a different parking policy next year.
