If you have been to the De Soto High School parking lot in the middle of a school day during these past few weeks, then you have probably noticed that the school is running out of parking spaces. The parking lot situation has gotten so bad this year that seniors who come in late for shortened schedule are forced to park on lines instead of in parking spots.

On white days, I don’t come in until third block, and I’ve driven around the parking lot multiple times looking in every nook and cranny for a possible parking spot. As far as I know, this has never been a problem before, which makes sense since the school is growing and has never had this many people who could drive. The best way to fix this problem is to stop letting freshmen drive to school.

DHS is growing every year, and the freshman class this year is the biggest class DHS has ever had. With this in mind, it makes sense to stop letting freshmen drive as the freshman class next year will probably be even bigger, and every year after it will keep growing. This is also why adding more spots is not an adequate solution, which is being proposed in the bond. Even if the bond gets approved, it will still be awhile before the addition to the parking lot is finished and by then it might be an even bigger problem. In addition, more parking would solve the immediate problem, but in a few years the same problem would pop back up when it meets capacity.

I know that freshmen may drive because of sports and extracurricular activities, but in my freshmen year I did soccer, the school musical and play, track and field and Scholars Bowl, all without driving until my sophomore year.

While some students may not have parents who are willing to drive them home every day, there are other solutions to the problem. My sister, who is a freshman this year, would ask other basketball players who lived near us if they could drive her home from practice.

Freshmen have always been allowed to drive to DHS once they get their restricted license, but at schools like Mill Valley, freshmen haven’t been able to drive for years. The reason for this is because schools were having the same problem we are having now: too many drivers and not enough spaces. Some schools even have parking passes with a designated number spot for everyone who wants to drive to school regularly. If another school in the district can do it, why can’t DHS?

While it may lead to more problems for some of the freshmen and their families, overall, it would benefit the entire school more in the long run if freshmen weren’t able to drive themselves.