As the year comes to an end, the seniors are still trying to manage finding parking spots in the supposed “senior lot.” Downers Grove South fully opened the school up to all students, and now more spots were available for students to park in.

There have been many complaints within the senior class because many of those people who went through the process to get a parking pass are seeing their spots being taken by underclassmen.

Seniors have voiced their concerns, but many underclassmen haven’t. Junior Bella Chalada has shared her outlook on parking in what used to be mainly the senior parking.

“I’m allowed to park in the lot because of my Intro to Teaching class and due to my reasons for leaving in the middle of the day.”

Students who are in classes such as Intro to Teaching have been offered priority in parking spot selection; taking this course involves the responsibility of traveling to their internship school as well as coming back to DGS for any other classes they have later in the day.

Complaints from seniors mostly come from underclassman parking without a pass and not being penalized. But there has been controversy with the execution of others being offered spots over seniors.

“I haven’t heard much about seniors getting pushed out of the lot, but I think if it’s called the senior lot then seniors should get first dibs plus the students who have special programs” Chalada said.

Seniors tend to be the first group of students who are looked into with parking spots because many have extracurricular activities after school as well. But with the COVID-19 pandemic greatly affecting the year, students were scrambling to figure out if they would meet more of the stricter guidelines to obtain a spot.

Changes are subject to be made for the next school year, and many students and teachers were trying to adjust to the new arrangements made this past year.

Underclassmen understand the struggles of the senior students and are taking any opportunities the school gives them to make their end of the year as smooth as possible.

“The senior lot should 100% be first dibs to seniors. Once all of the seniors have spots then juniors should get spots. Upperclassmen should always get priority over the underclassman in the lot” Chalada said.