Any student who drives themselves to school at Jonathan Alder High School is required to purchase a parking pass. These parking passes are $40 per car for the entire year. Last year the price was only $15 due to COVID-19 and the constant change from in-person, hybrid, and online learning. However, now that the price is back up to $40, some students believe that this price is still too expensive.

Compared to nearby public schools, the price of Jonathan Alder’s parking passes are high. In perspective, London High School’s passes are purchased at the price of $5 and Hilliard Darby’s passes are free.

The price of Westerville Central’s parking pass is similar to Jonathan Alder’s at $30. After the second semester, it drops to $15 for the second half of the year. Jonathan Alder also has a similar policy. According to the car registration form, the price is $40 for the entire year, and goes down $10 every quarter. Therefore, when a student purchases a pass during the last quarter of the year, they are only required to pay a quarter of the original price. Although the policy is similar to Westerville Central’s, Jonathan Alder’s full price is still $10 more.

With the amount of empty spaces in the senior lot, senior Chloe Thomas believes having to purchase a parking pass is unnecessary. “There’s a lot of spaces so there’s really no need. It’s not like you’re fighting for spaces or anything.” The price would be reasonable if there were limited spaces. However, Jonathan Alder isn’t lacking in that department.

With a new principal change in recent years, current principal Clint Hayes says he was not part of setting the price. However, when asked what the money accumulated from selling parking passes goes toward, he says, “It goes towards anything to help students academically or as a reward for doing something well.” However, the last event that this money would have gone to was a pep rally in October of this year; however, there has been little to no events such as that one since. Hayes also added that this money cannot fund athletics or anything staff related.

Thomas says the price is not fair for students who do not stay at school for the full day. “…It doesn’t make sense for people who are only using the spaces for a short amount of time to pay the same as full time driving students,” she says. This is true for senior Ava Wehner, who is only in the building for 5 periods out of 8, yet she still has to pay full price. She doesn’t believe this price is fair, either.

“$40 is kind of a lot,” Wehner says. “I don’t think it’s worth it.”

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article said that the price for the parking pass does not decrease as the year goes on. This is not true, and the current article is accurate.