One morning, Chris Ryan (‘26) was not in English class. A typically punctual guy, I was shocked by his absence. Allison Moores (‘26) informed the class that Chris had to park his car on the street after being kicked out of Allison’s parking spot in the garage. Allison knew she wasn’t driving to school that day, so she permitted Chris to park in her spot. This did not fly with security, who politely asked Chris to find parking elsewhere. Chris arrived at class 20 minutes late.

Parking is no small feat for Bishop’s students. The lack of all-day parking around Bishop’s has led some students to cut corners and borrow their friends’ parking spots just to get to class on time. Many are frustrated by the inability to park in friends’ spots, while others are unaware of the rule against it. 

Aileen Shin (‘26) explained a similar story from when she parked in a friend’s parking spot during cumulatives week. “No one was at school, and my friend said I could park in her spot. I got in trouble, and asked the security guard why I couldn’t, and all he said was, ‘it’s the rule,’” Aileen explained.

These “incidents,” if that’s what we’ll call them, sparked my curiosity. I have heard numerous kids complaining about not being able to park in their friends’ empty spots with permission. Why can’t we? It seems logical that we should; if the spot will be empty and there is open communication between the students with consent, why not? Students are always complaining about parking (rightfully so), and so the possibility of an empty garage spot is absurd. 

I initially wanted to investigate why this mandate is in place. Does our school have rules just to have rules? 

Dean of Students Ms. Michelle Shea explained that Assistant Dean of Students Ms. Becky Young gives out the parking spots. Seniors are guaranteed at least one semester with a parking spot, and the remaining spots are given to juniors through a lottery system. The security team ensures that students park in the right parking spot, with each student having a numbered parking pass for their dashboard that matches the numbered spot in the garage. 

Ms. Shea had an idea of why security mandates students to only park in their spot (for simplicity and security reasons), though the answer wasn’t codified. I decided to go straight to the main source of information, Director of Security Danny Newsom, for the inside scoop. 

Mr. Newsom described the complications that arise when students rely on word of mouth for borrowing a parking spot. “Whatever that line of communication is could become hearsay. Someone may hear that a spot is available and end up jumping it,” Mr. Newsom explained. “What has happened more often than not is the student takes someone else’s reserved space. Then it becomes a ripple effect.”

Security is then obligated to review the security cameras, track down the student who is parked in the wrong spot, and then email them. Do all Bishop’s students frequently check their emails? No. So, as you can imagine, a simple decision to park in a friend’s parking spot can create a very complicated and time-consuming issue. This time wasted fixing the parking dilemma takes away from the security guards keeping the school safe. 

Additionally, Mr. Newsom feels obligated to take care of faculty first, ensuring that they have a spot to park in, as faculty does not have the ease of moving their cars during the day. “I feel for you students, I really do…I have to make sure that my word to faculty and staff is there. When I tell my faculty and staff I have parking for them, I have to make sure that they have parking.”

“I am really thankful that there is parking for me in the morning, and that parking is not something I need to worry about,” Class of 2026 Advisor and Math Teacher Ms. Williamson said.

To ensure that staff have parking and to reduce confusion in the garage, the simple solution has been to disallow parking swaps. If a student has a designated parking spot in the garage, they are the only one who is allowed to park there. It makes sense.

Although Mr. Newsom’s logical explanation put my curiosity at ease, I still struggled to grapple with the fact that students had very valid reasons for their frustration.

“It felt like a waste of a parking space in a very space-limited La Jolla,” Allison said when describing how she felt regarding Chris’s inability to park in her spot. 

Even Mr. Newsom is frustrated with the lack of parking and the abundance of parking tickets from it. He said, “Parking is difficult around here. I feel for you guys; that’s a very expensive ticket simply because you have a lot on your plate and forget to move your car after two hours. It’s beyond me how the Bishop’s student is able to carry so much all at once.”

This was when I pitched the question to Mr. Newsom: “What if I had a solution?”

With a beaming smile, Mr. Newsom was open to hearing my ideas and eager to find a solution with me. The root of the solution lay in the parking pass. “That parking pass is what makes or breaks everything,” Mr. Newsom said. The parking pass signals to security which spot the car is allowed to be in (with confirmation of the vehicle’s license plate, as well). 

Working through possible solutions, Mr. Newsom and I crafted a new garage policy that will hopefully make use of empty garage spots and hopefully save some students from a tedious parking pass. Drumroll please!

The new student parking garage policy:

“If a parking pass is given to a friend, and an email is sent to Mr. Newsom and either Ms. Shea or Ms. Young (make, model, and license plate of vehicle, as well as the days they will park in the spot), the friend can park in that spot for the specific days provided.”

Ms. Shea is on board, stating, “I approve this new policy” after reading it. She confirmed that this new policy is now in effect.

While this garage dilemma has been ongoing for years, creating a solution was quite simple and easy. Mr Newsom said, “When you approach a problem with certain methods of respect and understanding patience, we can achieve change, right? And that’s what this article has done…I want this to be a life lesson.”

With both curiosity and an open mind, we each have the power to make a change (even if it’s as simple as parking in a friend’s garage parking spot). 

A correction was made on Nov. 4, 2025: In print Issue 03’s version of this article, a paragraph was duplicated. The Tower reviews quotes with faculty to ensure that they accurately represent their voice. After the quote review from Mr. Newsom, both the unedited and polished versions of one of his quotes accidentally made it into print. This online version of the article has been corrected to not include that mistake.