Credit to Kylie Taliaferro

A parking pass sits in an upperclassmen’s car.

Sophomores can pick up their parking passes in the main office starting September 5, 2023. Parking passes for all students cost $60 and can be applied for on the FHN website. Since parking passes started, sophomores haven’t been able to get parking passes until two weeks after school starts.

“At the beginning of the year, [sophomores] don’t start turning 16 until throughout the year, so it doesn’t have very much of an effect,” Therese Sumner, the administrative assistant in charge of parking and transportation at FHN said.

If a sophomore needs an exception to get a parking pass, they can bring up their situation with Sumner or Assistant Principal Jeff Blankenship. Since parking is a privilege, all students are required to have a GPA of 2.0 or above to get or keep a parking pass. Additionally, a new policy ensures that student drivers must maintain at least a 90% attendance rate. 

“I’m excited to be able to drive myself to school,” sophomore Ari Larsen said. “It will be really helpful when lacrosse starts because I’ll be able to keep my equipment in my car instead of lugging it around with me all day.”

 The two week gap is meant to help juniors and seniors who are a part of programs such as the work program or blended learning classes to get priority over other students. This year, the construction of the new school building and athletics fields have greatly impacted the amount of parking spaces available to students, but Sumner remains optimistic.

“It’s been pretty smooth this year, the kids have done really great,” Sumner said. “Most of them already know the process because they drove the previous year.”