Many students drive themselves to school. Santa Fe High School requires students who park at the school to purchase a parking permit.

As of late September, there were 179 parking permits sold, according to Ray Salazar, the school’s accountant. Last year, 226 permits were sold.

To purchase a parking permit, students must have proof of insurance, proof of registration, and a driver’s license. They cost $35. (The price is same at Capital High School.)

The money collected from parking permits goes into the Student Activity account, which benefits students in many ways. “We use it to cover some of the costs of Homecoming, prom, senior activity day, graduation expenses, and some class supplies,” Mr. Salazar said. “We are using the money we collect to offset a lot of the budgets cuts that we had this year.”

Why should students have to pay to park at the school when teachers don’t? That’s a question many students ask. They also ask whether or not they really need to buy a permit.

“Honestly you don’t have to buy one,” said senior Issac Martinez. “They don’t check.”

If a student decides against purchasing a permit and gets caught, he or she will be required to pay the fee of $35. Students will get a warning the first time, but consequences could get worse the next time they get caught. Their car could actually be booted.

Santa Fe High School has approximately 1,458 students. About 326 are seniors and 313 are juniors, all of whom are likely old enough to drive to school. There are approximately 360 sophomores and 470 freshmen; only some of them are likely old enough to drive. On any given day, one can count approximately 145 cars in the lot, which means that most people do pay for their permits.

“Driving to school is way better than having your parents drive you to school,” said one student.