Every year Louis Boney wrote the dreaded check so he could park his Hummer in the Eden Prairie High School parking lot. The payment line: $300.
He’s not alone in paying this much in parking permit cost. Even with parking costs and rising gas prices, students are still choosing to drive to school.
“I think kids are driving to school because of peer pressure and because they think it’s the cool thing to do,” said Jan Holmes of the support staff at Eden Prairie High School.
Despite the high fees, juniors and seniors at Eden Prairie High School bought 629 permits. The number of permits sold this year was actually below average because one of the lots was under construction.
Eden Prairie’s parking permits are among the most expensive in the metro area, according to a random samping of area high schools.
Eden Prairie’s fees are $300 for Lot A, and $200 for Lot B and Lot C. Arlington High School in St. Paul charges $157, and Wayzata in Plymouth comes in at $125. Edina students pay $112.50 while Como Park High School student pay $20.
“I think it[driving to school] gives them [students] a sense of independence and a sense of identity, and it also gives them freedom and lets them leave at their own time,” said Boney, a 2007 graduate of Eden Prairie. “They also don’t have to depend on someone else and [it] gives them an opportunity to sleep in.”
The school uses the money collected from the parking fees to pay for security personnel who drive around checking for permits and for the gas they use, Holmes said.
Parking costs aren’t the only thing putting a dent in teenagers’ wallets. Rising gas prices have deterred some students from driving.
“I think it’s [high gas prices] is a double-edged sword. On one hand, I think they [students] will appreciate driving more; it’ll give them better appreciation of driving and they won’t take it for granted,” said Alex Riordan, senior at Eden Prairie High School, “On the other hand, it’s ridiculous how much it [gas price] is rising.”
Riordan pays $200 to park in Lot C. He uses his car in winter and bikes rest of the year. As for Boney, he’s happy he doesn’t have to write the dreaded $300 check every year; now he’s off to college.
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