Menlo has introduced two new changes to parking permits this year: a lottery system for applications and a firm deadline for submissions, according to Director of Security Mustapha Moutri.
Before the 2024-25 school year, Moutri emailed juniors and seniors about the new way to obtain a parking permit. In order to apply for a student parking permit, students had to be upperclassmen who had earned their driver’s license by the deadline of Aug. 23. In the email, Moutri said that the lottery was put in place to help streamline traffic around campus.
Moutri explained that if the number of students exceeded the lot capacity of 170 spots, there would be a lottery. If a lottery were to take place, students who carpool with at least one other student — including siblings — would be prioritized, followed by seniors and then juniors.
176 students applied for parking permits. Moutri decided that because the number of applicants only slightly exceeded the lot capacity, all students who applied would be granted a permit. In future years, according to Moutri, the lottery system will be used if the number of student applicants significantly outnumbers the spots.
Previously, Moutri would issue additional parking permits throughout the school year as more students got their licenses. “There was no policy to say, ‘Oh, I can’t give you a parking permit.’ We just issued [them],” Moutri said.
This year, Moutri has chosen to not issue parking permits after the Aug. 23 cutoff date. “Last year I issued [255 permits] by the end of May,” Moutri said. “That’s 70 overflow students looking for parking, not every day, but […] security [has to send] them [to park] back to the street.”
Menlo has a long-standing agreement with the town of Atherton that caps traffic for peak hours in the morning between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and in the afternoon between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. A trip is any car going over the entrance of campus on Valparaiso Avenue, whether in or out of the school. “A parent dropping off their child counts as two trips,” Director of Sustainability and science teacher Chrissy Orangio wrote in an email to the Coat of Arms. “Additionally, a student that comes in to park, can’t find parking, and leaves to park on the street counts as two trips.”
If Menlo went over its allotment, Orangio said that Menlo would be unable to increase enrollment. “Going over our traffic numbers would have implications for our enrollment in the future,” Orangio said. “That’s why we run a five bus system [and] why we run multiple Caltrain shuttles.”
Security will also be closely enforcing parking permits this year, and began notifying students without parking permits on Sept. 2. It wasn’t until Sept. 9 that the security team began actually issuing citations. “If [students] park on campus [without a permit], they’ll get a citation. Second citation, then I’ll talk to them,” Moutri said. If students get another citation, they will have to speak with Upper School Assistant Director Adam Gelb. According to Moutri, this system has been working, as there were seven citations on Sept. 9 and only two on Sept. 10.
There are some drawbacks to the new parking policies, particularly for juniors who do not obtain their driver’s licenses until mid-year. Junior Maverick Desuadido, who did not have his license by the deadline, was unable to acquire a permit. “I was hoping to apply for a parking permit but I need my license first, which I’m pretty bummed about,” Desuadido wrote in an email to The Coat of Arms. “However, a lot of my friends said [the] system was fine and they all got their permits.”
Junior Krista Arreola, too, had hoped to obtain a parking permit in order to make her drive to school more convenient. “I’m young for my grade, I waited too long to get my permit, so now […] November is the earliest [I can get my license],” Arreola said. Because of this, Arreola must wait until her senior year to park in the Menlo lot during school hours.
