The school repaved and repainted the parking lots at the Upper School over the summer. As part of the renovations, around eight spots were removed from the Senior Lot in order to enlarge spots and create more space for driving, according to Plant Manager Ed Wormald.
Student Logistics Manager Megan Remo said it felt like an appropriate time to implement changes to the Senior Lot since the school repaints the parking lot every few years.
“Our parking lots get repaved and restriped every so often,” Remo said. “So this was the right time to create a more efficient drop-off system with the help of a specialized parking engineer. The goal was to improve the functionality of the parking lot, provide a dedicated drop-off lane and minimize any space reduction.”
As a result of the removal of Senior Lot spots, many seniors were assigned spots in other parking lots on campus. Remo said seniors are not entitled to receive spots in the Senior Lot as the school does not have enough parking spots to match the demand.
“The ‘Senior Lot’ is a misnomer as seniors have parked in other lots for many years as parking demand has grown,” Remo said. “With parking demand in excess of our limited parking supply, the transportation office has begun prioritizing carpool parkers and tandem parkers along with seniority. Assigning parking is a challenge given the competing interests and our location on the side of a canyon, [but] I feel fortunate that Harvard-Westlake has been able to create spaces with the room we do have.”
Boaz Maydew ’24 said he thinks it is unfair that there are students in younger grades that received a better spot than he did.
“I wouldn’t be upset if [there were not] juniors who are parked closer than I am to campus,” Maydew said. “I really dislike having to walk all the way from St. Michael’s Church [like] I did all [of] last year, and now that I’m senior it just feels disrespectful that I’m in the same spot again.”
Head of Upper School Beth Slattery said while she understands the frustration seniors placed in other parking lots have, the school felt it was important to prioritize driver safety.
“I can barely park in those spots, and certainly brand new drivers struggle with being able to park [in] those spots,” Slattery said. “It felt more important that fewer cars are getting damaged because we are all familiar with the Instagram account @hwparking, and there are many times that I get a phone call about a scratch or a dent. We figured that it was worth it. I know seniors feel entitled to the Senior Lot, but the truth is it’s a little bit of a further walk, and everybody will be okay.”
Remo said although the number of parking spots has been adjusted, the transportation office has created policies to ensure students who apply for parking spots receive one.
“The repaving and restriping projects that took place over the summer reduced parking in some lots while adding space in others,” Remo said. “With a formalized tandem parking policy in place for [this school year], I expect to be able to accommodate all senior and junior parking requests. However, if parking applications continue to increase, it is possible that in the future some juniors may be waitlisted. I don’t want to put students on the waitlist, so I highly encourage students to think of carpooling or tandem parking with a friend in the future.”