Student parking at Wauwatosa School District high schools has been a topic of concern for years.
For Wauwatosa West and Wauwatosa East students, driving to school isn’t a problem, the problem is finding a place to park their car.
“It’s confusing why there is a whole row or more that is not being used by people with passes,” Senior Addison Scharlau says. “Eisenhower staff doesn’t take up that many spaces, so those spots should be reserved for juniors or should be included in the amount of parking passes handed out.”
At Tosa West, there are 180 student parking spots and are available to Seniors on a first come first served basis for a 50 dollar fee. Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, students are assigned and are only allowed to park in their numbered parking spot. 
West students who are unable to purchase a pass are left to find their own parking. This means parking on nearby side streets or taking your chances parking in another student’s spot or the faculty parking. The City of Wauwatosa randomly checks student parking permits in the parking lot and issues a city ticket for violations along with a $30 fine.
Tosa West Senior Addison Scharlau was able to purchase a parking pass this year, but has had her fair share of trouble with parking since she started driving to school her junior year.
“Having a parking pass makes my mornings a lot less stressful as opposed to last year when I was worried every morning about finding a spot, and finding a spot I wouldn’t be ticketed in.” said Scharlau
Students at West who are not able to claim a parking pass commonly park on nearby side streets within walking distance. Most of the streets within a block radius of the school are limited to 2 hours during the school day. Further streets do not have this restriction, so many students park over a city block away from school.
Parking on the street leads to hectic mornings between students trying to park, parents dropping off their children, and cars trying to turn into the lot.
Tosa West Junior Alexa Mallet has her own worries when it comes to parking in the neighborhoods across from the school.
“It gets very chaotic with all the cars and traffic in the morning, even when I show up early to make sure
I can secure a spot on the street,” Mallet said. “It can be scary trying to cross the street, as some drivers are very unaware.”
Schools in surrounding areas have different student parking policies. Marquette University High School offers free parking for all students with vehicle registration. Brookfield Central students must pay a $100 fee per semester. Pius XI High School students must pay a $150 fee per semester.
Students at Wauwatosa East High School face similar problems when it comes to parking.
The school parking lot is reserved for teachers only, so all students must find their own parking. Many of the streets surrounding the school are hourly parking, resulting in a ticket being over the allowed hours.
Many of the close spots are already taken by the time East Senior Avery Church arrives at school.
“I have a first-hour study hall, so when I get to school an hour later than everyone, I’m left with little options for parking near school.” Church said “I usually end up walking quite a ways in order to avoid getting ticketed.”
Parking is an issue at both schools.
High School students throughout the Wauwatosa School District agree that they should be allowed to park in their school parking lots if there are extra spaces available.
“A lot of the time, the teacher parking lot isn’t full.” Church says “so if there is a spot available, I feel that a student should be able to park there.”
With these issues in mind, changes have been made to the parking restrictions on nearby streets. The 2 hour parking restriction has been lifted in order to let students park comfortably. This should help with early morning parking stress in students without a parking pass.
