Why take the bus when you can get some extra sleep and leave on your own schedule without having to rush?

As an upperclassmen, it is natural to want to avoid riding the bus. No one wants to wake up early to sit among rowdy high schoolers inside a stuffy vehicle. That is why most juniors and seniors try to apply for parking passes, but is it really worth it?

It costs $200 for a student to receive a parking pass in Fairfax County but with the county’s budget deficit increasing, that fee may rise to $300 for the next school year.

The high price seems ridiculous considering the fact that these are students, who may or may not be working, that are paying for these expenses, but the school has a monopoly on parking spots.

Despite the high prices, 147/150 passes have been sold. Students simply don’t have any alternative options. Students should not have to pay that much money in order to simply park at a school.

Even for those who have jobs, their incomes do not allow them to casually throw out a couple hundred of dollars for something as petty as parking.

“They are pretty expensive,” junior Waleed Awad said. “But I have free lunch so I only paid $20.”

Students with free or reduced lunch only have to pay one tenth of the original price for a parking ticket while other students have to pay the original $200.

Although $20 may seem too low of a price to charge all students, the price should still be lowered to a more reasonable number for students without free or reduced lunch.

Some students are not as privileged to have their parents pay for their pass and are forced to gather $200 themselves.

The students have to rake up a couple hundred dollars on their own, whether it be through a part-time job or weekend babysitting.

At Annandale, the student parking is not even all that great. Those who park by Ossian Park still have to walk past the entire track before officially arriving in the school, and we all know how troublesome that can be especially during months of winter when the weather is particularly harsh.

“I feel like the school and the church are taking advantage of us because they can,” junior Emily Pope said. “It does not cost the school or the church that much to let us park.”

For those who park at the church, the distance to walk to the school is not as far, but the students still have to beat the traffic on their way to school.

With start times now at 8:10, there is no doubt that the roads are blocked. High school students are not the only ones on the road at that time in the morning, but parents and other adults are also rushing to get to their work places on time.

The location of our school also contributes towards the immense traffic seeing as how it is situated within the inner roads of a neighborhood. The roads leading into Annandale are rather small and there are several stop signs, delaying the route to school even more.

With all of these factors involved, it seems that the $200 fee is a bit unreasonable. Of course, the students should be paying for the spaces, but the high price is uncalled for.

Students should not have to pay a couple hundred of dollars when all they are trying to do is come to school and get an education, especially considering the fact that high schoolers do not have a steady income.

The situation is not fair for students who have to balance school and extracurriculars because they also have to find a way to make $200 just to park at school. Clearly, the parking pass fees should be lowered for the benefit of students.