While students drive and walk in and out of the parking lot every day, it is campus supervisor Jeanine Sevilla who knows the parking lot best. With safety as her first priority, she keeps a strict watch on the parking lot to maintain a safe, protected environment for the students.
Working at SHS since 2004, Sevilla manages the parking situation on campus by walking around and ticketing students for parking violations. Common violations Sevilla sees on campus are cars parked with the front of the car facing out.
“The reason why I don’t want [students] to park with the nose out is if they take off, they could hit somebody — it’s a safety reason,” Sevilla said.
Another frequent cause of ticketing is students forgetting parking permits. As a solution to the forgetful students who leave their parking permits at home, Sevilla suggests leaving a note with their permit number on the dashboard when they arrive at school.
Although students may be aware of the separate senior and junior parking lots, Sevilla says, in fact, that the school currently does not distinguish between the two lots.
“We did, a long time ago, have designated senior and junior parking,” Sevilla said. “As staff we don't have designated parking either, so it's first come first serve for us [as well].”
However, one place where students cannot park at all is in the front row of the leftmost lot, near the McAfee Center. This row, reserved for the cafeteria, is used to cart food back and forth between the cafeteria and the parking lot.
“Unfortunately, kids come in late [and] they park [in the cafeteria’s spots], so I ticket them,” she said.
The most interesting parking incident Sevilla witnessed also dealt with students parking in the wrong spot.
“I saw a kid with a Jeep park over the curb, where the flower boxes are,” she said. “I guess they were in a rush.”
Despite some minor violations, Sevilla is impressed with the behavior of students on campus this year.
“It’s been a great year. The kids have been spectacular, and they’re very respectful,” Sevilla said.