Thomas Jefferson

High School | Home of the Spartans

Free Parking at TJ

Posted 09/02/2010 by Marina Miller

Students can now receive parking passes for free for the student parking lot.

Photo by Mia NogueiraTJ students can now get parking passes for free by filling out a short form from Dean of Students Mike Laurita, thanks to the generous TJ Administration. This is the first year that parking passes have been free for the student parking lot. Assistant Principal Scott Lessard describes the reasoning behind the new policy: “We [administrators] are just genuinely nice people who care about the students here at TJ. It is a way to quickly identify cars if there is ever a problem and maintain the safe environment.”

Principal Sandra Just agreed with Lessard and added, “We feel that the students can maintain that level of responsibility and focus more in other areas like academics. If they cannot be responsible enough, then we will have to change that policy.”

The students of TJ appear to be appreciative of the newly acquired privilege. Senior Rachel Fiest said, “It’s very nice of the faculty to give us parking for free. Most of us don’t have a lot of money, so any added expense seems like so much more than it actually is. I proudly displayed my parking pass because I was so appreciative of the school’s generosity.”

Mike Laurita talked about how expensive other schools’ parking fees can be, and explained the process to obtain one of these parking passes. “Students can come to me and fill out a short form and give me a copy of their registration to get a parking pass,” said Laurita, who also mentioned the consequences of not having one. “Officer Cueva will be writing tickets in the student parking lot for the cars that do not have their pass clearly displayed.