Parking at Chamblee High School has been an issue for many years now; many complain about the overcrowding, the long walks, and the parking violations. Because of the overcrowding, there isn’t enough parking at the school for every student which causes students to find new places nearby instead.
“I park in Chamblee plaza, the Publix shopping center nearby, but I don’t park in front of any businesses. I am a little worried about getting towed though,” said Rashad Vigli (‘26).
Another issue many students face is the timing of school aligning with acquiring a license.
“I got my license late, so I couldn’t apply for a spot when the applications were open. I just applied again when they reopened the form. It’s not guaranteed that I will get a spot but I’m hopeful,” said Vigli.
Many students are in dual enrollment, which means they are driving to and from school more than the average student.
“I’m in dual enrollment so I definitely need to be able to park somewhere when I go to school. Since I park in the shopping center, the only disadvantage is the longer walk to school, but at least I can still park somewhere. It would still be way more convenient if I could park at the school though,” said Vigli.
Roosevelt Weatherley is in charge of distributing parking spaces to students and enforcing the parking lot rules at Chamblee High School.
“I’m in charge of setting up parking for students and faculty. It’s been told by me, by Mr. Chapman, that dual enrollment students have top priority. Dual enrollment seniors are first, then dual enrollment juniors, then other seniors, then other juniors,” said Weatherely.
Although dual students are supposed to have top priority when getting parking, many in dual weren’t able to acquire a spot.
“I wish the school would be better about giving spots to students who are in dual enrollment. I know many people, myself included, that have to find somewhere else to park besides the school after driving to and from the college campus,” said Ava Redick (‘26).
Some other students got lucky and were able to acquire a spot at the school even without the dual enrollment advantage.
“I just applied for a parking spot online then I was given my spot number at open house. I was surprised that I got a parking spot though because I’m not in dual enrollment. It was very random that I got one,” said Chelsea Azar (‘26).
Although some non-dual enrollment students were given spots and some dual students weren’t given spots, there’s still dual students with parking spots.
“I like parking because it is easy to get to school, and if I didn’t have parking I wouldn’t have a way to school,” said Lacey Rutherford (‘25).
A big factor in parking, whether in Chamblee’s lot or if a student buys a parking spot from a local business, is the cost.
“I pay $25 a every semester but other people I know pay $50 a month so it’s definitely a steal,” said Rutherford.
Luckily, some students don’t have to struggle with the common grievance of paying for their parking.
“I have free parking because of a program I am in,” said Kraby.
One of the biggest issues students seem to face when parking at the school is the chance of another student taking your spot.
“Sometimes when someone’s spot gets taken, that person will take my spot and so then I have to take someone else’s spot. That gets really annoying,” said Azar. “The main challenge that I face is when people take my parking spot and I just have to go find a different one, which can sometimes cause fights with whoever’s parking spot I took,” said Rutherford.
In order to prevent this from happening as much, the administrators have clear guidelines on the parking rules and consequences of traffic violations.
“There are specific rules for the parking lot and if a student breaks them, then there are consequences lined up as well. For a first offense, students get a citation for a verbal warning. For a second offense, you get another written warning with a call to the parents. A third offense results in possible school suspension and contact to the parents. There is also a parking and traffic violation section for the student code of conduct. We have to check that out when we get to the third step. A fourth offense is a citation, contact home, and school suspension. If a student breaks the parking rules more after this then they will get their parking privileges revoked,” said Weatherely.
Although they don’t have to worry about someone taking their spot, there are still many disadvantages to parking in other locations.
“The biggest disadvantage of parking further from the school includes the long walk to school. Sometimes there will be PE classes happening on the field which makes it awkward when I have to walk past them. I also have to parallel park every day which is difficult,” said Redick.
While there is plenty of problems with parking inside the school’s parking lot, it doesn’t mean students who park in different lots get any different luck.
“They randomly close the parking lot in the morning so you have to go around to the other entrance,” said Kraby.
In order to ensure getting a parking spot at the school, students are advised to apply as early as possible.
Weatherely said, “My advice for students looking for a parking spot is to try to get a parking spot as early as possible. If you can get it when you first enroll, that would be great. Normally students will go through Mr. Chapman. He usually sets it up and distributes parking spaces for each student. Then when I get the list, the only thing I have to do is give the spots out.”
