This year has been a year of change for the high school, with the biggest being the change to the one of our two lots for the entire school. This change has made it so students have to pay to park on Sylvan and from what I have seen a very small amount of students have paid that substantial fee, students and parents alike both have no idea who decided to make this decision. But Principal Ms. McHale states, “This was the Borough…not a school district decision.” This shows the school had no real involvement and that it was an outside decision from people who barely even visit the school. In my opinion it is outrageous that students have to pay to park just to attend school to learn where we already pay a large amount of money to go to the school and live in the town. Right now we have one free parking lot for both the junior and senior students, and due to our school getting renovated there is a teacher specific area that takes up another good portion of that student lot. Right now this problem isn’t major because for the most part only the senior class is able to drive now as we get closer to 2024 more and more juniors are able to drive filling up the lot until there are no spots left. The reason I am writing this is to hopefully change the parking lot to what it used to be, making it easier for both students and teachers alike to have parking. This way there are more easily accessible parking spaces and no one has to add on to what they already have to pay to attend HMHS. 

A fellow student Loudon Vest (who parked on Sylvan every day last year), “I’m very disappointed that we have to pay for parking on Sylvan, and I wonder where this money is going if it is controlled by the borough or the school, and if it is going to the school we need some information on how that money is being spent.” It is clear that this has affected the student body as a whole and they are looking for answers, and hopefully a change or reset to the parking at our school. 

I decided to get in contact with the borough of Haddonfield, the group who decided to make Sylvan a paid lot. I sent them an email on September 18, asking why it happened and what events made this change occur. Unfortunately I gave them over a week and heard nothing back.

Last school year there were accidents in the lot with students hitting other students and this was when Sylvan was at its max capacity, now with it not even seeming to operate at half of what it once was it seems as though there will be more and more accidents with every new driver. I am hoping this change will come,  and with it will come easier parking and less chance of accidents in all of our student lots.