Students have been receiving an extensive amount of parking tickets recently for various parking violations in both the student parking lot and the gravel parking lot located in the back of the school. A committee in the county has implemented the parking regulations to keep order and organization in all Wake County schools. It’s hard to say why the issue of parking has become so prominent lately, but Officer Wilson, Wakefield’s Security Guard, is certainly not tolerating any violations.

“I just enforce the rules that are set by the school,” said Wilson. “I do not give my opinion and I do not bend the rules.”

It’s not hard to walk through the parking lot without seeing ticketed cars. A simple mistake of forgetting your tag one day can result in a five dollar fine. It may not seem like a lot, but for some Wakefield students, it adds up.

“I give out about 6 tickets per day,” said Wilson. “I give tickets to students parking outside of the lines, students with no hang tags, students with unregistered cars, and students that are not parking in their allotted space.”

For Angela Delfino, junior, avoiding parking tickets has not been an easy task. She has received seven parking tickets just this year.

“I’ve gotten two fines for parking in handicap spots, which were each $20,” said Delfino. “I also received five $5 fines for parking crooked.”

Other students at Wakefield are quite frustrated with the system of fines as well. Especially those students that have gotten a ridiculous amount of fines that they must pay off to graduate.

“I disagree with some of the fines,” said Wesley Skinner, senior. “To me, most of them are unnecessary and expensive.”

Unfortunately, there is nothing the students can do to change the policy. Therefore, there must be some ways to avoid getting a ticket, even if it is only $5. Advice from fellow students that have received their share of tickets is always helpful.

“Know the rules of where you can park and when,” said Skinner. “Make sure you park in the lines as well.”

Students can agree that getting to school in time to park straight and double check on their parking job is essential.

“Make sure you get to school early enough so you don’t have to park in handicap spots,” said Delfino. “You should give yourself enough time to walk from your assigned parking spot into school.”

As Skinner already addressed, it is important to be aware of the rules of parking. Officer Wilson has specified what is illegal and what is acceptable when parking at Wakefield.

“It is a $5 fine for not having your tag up, not being between the lines or not having a registered vehicle,” said Wilson. “It is a $20 fine for not parking in your assigned parking space and it is a $50 fine for parking in the back of the school, and your car is booted, depending on where and when you park there.”

With all this being said, the regulations for parking are in place for good reason. It’s important to understand that the enforcements being made are for the safety of everyone at Wakefield.

“If we let people park in the back of the school and an emergency occurs, the fire trucks would not be able to get back there,” said Dr. Vivian Wells, Assistant Principal. “Everyone has to play by the same rules, there cannot be any exceptions.”

Because the county has placed these rules on all schools, there’s no getting around them, whether you want to or not. However, without these rules, Wakefield would not be as safe and students would not learn proper discipline and organization in parking lots.

“Some violations can result in towing or booting cars,” said Wells. “However, all students who have parking spots did sign a contract agreeing to the parking rules, which are put in place for safety reasons.”