On Friday, January 10, 2025, an incident occurred just outside of the Community School of Davidson (CSD) parking lots. Around the school and in Davidson in general, space is tight and because the town allows parking on both sides of most area streets, and roads are generally narrow, a car pulled out into the road and directly into the bumper of another.
Parking in Davidson, as well as around CSD, is generally difficult.
Due to the size of CSD and the school’s location, staff, student and visitor parking is often the subject of heavy scrutiny. Some of it is deserved and some of it is not. Unlike larger schools, which often have assigned parking because the school or the district own the property and can do to the lot whatever they wish, CSD takes a reserved by permit yet first come first served approach to the majority of on site car spaces because it is bound, partially, by the lease agreement as well as town policy.
Parking is an important part of the day. As a high school, more and more students drive to school. Other than the teacher and senior parking lots, almost all nearby parking is not technically on CSD grounds. In fact, not including staff and seniors, who get first priority on parking spaces and are issued permits to hang on rearview mirrors, there are more than 200 students who drive themselves every morning.
In the case of the senior parking lots, spaces are not always easy to find. Without officially assigned spaces, seniors scramble daily to get to the lots early enough for a spot.
Even with the CSD parking passes, enforcement often lacks as staff are not hired to monitor sophomores and juniors parking within the senior spaces.
Many first time and young drivers get overwhelmed by the complexity of the school parking. With cars surrounding all four sides of the building, side street parking lining the neighborhoods, and empty lots at nearby establishments left unmarked, it can be difficult to determine where you are wanted and where you’ll get in trouble for leaving a car.
“I thought that the parking lot behind [the] school was accessible for everyone,” sophomore Katelyn Casiday (‘27) said. “There were no clear instructions for sophomores on where we could park.”
Parking issues are also related to the time of year. The week before spring’s Intersession is busy, with the stresses of school and work escalating on deadline. Some underclassmen choose to grab whatever spot they can and avoid the morning and afternoon stress of walking that extra five minutes to their car.
At the beginning of 6th block on Monday, March 31, 2025, Journalism students conducted a parking lot analysis. There were 33 cars parked in the back gym parking lot without visible parking permits. Whether this number was entirely underclassmen, or seniors who either don’t have or don’t display their passes, the number is very high. 33 spots is a sizable portion of the available parking.
CSD’s unique scheduling also complicates the issue. Some students arrive before the day begins while others are not required to arrive until later in the morning. Those students have to find spaces around the community, with cars lining the schools surrounding streets or even side streets within the surrounding neighborhood. This has caused repeated issues between the school and its neighbors.
“When I have to walk from a few streets away, it not only risks me being late but also risks interfering with others’ lives.” Sophomore Brianna ‘Skye’ Misko-Holman (‘27) said.
For some students, their homes are within walking distance. But this isn’t always as glamorous as it may seem.
“I walk… In the rain, the doors by the gym flood and there’s mud all over, and I have to wait for someone to let me in,” sophomore Chloe Maloy (‘27) said. “It can be awful.”
In addition to this issue, the only doors close to the senior lots have been broken recently, meaning that on days with less-than-ideal weather conditions, an increased number of students move around the building and track the grime inside, making more work for the janitorial staff.
Can anything be done?
In the last two years, school administrators have worked with the town of Davidson to add and stripe a dozen parking along a nearby public side street.
Administrators have also discussed the idea of developing a parking app, which might identify open spots and assign them based on seniority and priority.
Some students, like senior Conner Shelton (‘25) have simply suggested the school adopt a first come first serve policy, which might encourage students to arrive at school earlier, have a parking spot and use early time for additional study.
Educating student drivers and teaching responsibility and accountability could also be part of the solution. Perhaps grade by grade seminars could include this topic in the curriculum as a lesson in courtesy, planning and community.
In the end, there is no simple solution. CSD’s parking as a whole is a major source of stress and confusion for many students and needs to be addressed to better suit school needs.
