High school students receive reduced cost permits

As IU sophomore Brittany Spencer-King waits for a campus bus, Bloomington High School North senior Scarlett Hyedt drives right up to her academic building at IU.\nThis is possible because Bloomington high school seniors are given the option to buy an A parking permit for $50 a year, something some IU students consider unfair. The A permit, which is usually reserved for associate instructors and post-doctoral fellows, is normally sold for $300. \nDoug Porter, director of IU parking operations, said high school students receive the A permit because of their need to get to campus on time. IU officials believe high school students do not have enough time to commute back and forth from their high school to IU if they have any other type of parking permit.\nHowever, IU students who spend $120 a year to receive an E permit – stadium parking – aren’t too happy, some say. \n“I’m pissed,” said sophomore Emily Diko. “I’ve been stuck in the rain so many times waiting for the bus because I have an E permit.”\nJeff Henderson, Bloomington North’s high school principal, said that the amount of time students need to get to IU’s campus depends on the individual student. Currently 33 students from Bloomington North are taking IU classes at some point during the day. \n“There could be some very tight time constraints, but also some very loose ones because of the block schedule at the high school,” he said.\nJoe Doyle, assistant principal at Bloomington High School South, said he agrees it depends on the students’ situations, but also said IU is not monitoring the use of the A pass.\n“Parking is not just an IU issue though, it’s a Bloomington issue,” he said.\nIf time constraints are the reason high school students receive an A permit at a discounted price, IU campus buses operations manager Perry Maull said he doesn’t understand. The E parking permit allows students to park at the stadium, Maull said. He thinks students with E passes have the same amount of time to park as anyone else on campus. \n“I don’t even buy an A permit because they’re $300,” Maull said. “Why can’t they just park in the E?”\nThe X bus route runs from the Stadium White Lot to the Indiana Memorial Union in about seven minutes, but King said it still takes her about an hour to get to class.\n“We pay money to come to IU, we should get at least some kind of priority,” King said.\nIU officials do not think it’s a major inconvenience for regular students because there are only a handful of high school students that take advantage of the A permit. However, they recognize the fact it upsets numerous students that struggle with buses and time.\n“We’d definitely consider changing it,” Porter said.