BARABOO (WKOW) -- Arab High School ultimately decided against a plan to distribute parking passes based on grade level and grade point average.
This whole thing started because the school was looking for a way to divide students into groups, so they're not all trying to register for parking at the same time each year.
"You have to be here by like 7:20 a.m. if you want a spot," said Mary Hickey, a junior at Arab High School.
It helps to have an assigned parking spot when you're one of about 400 other students driving to school.
"There is not a lot of parking on the streets around the school so if you get here late, you have to park a couple blocks away," said senior Gem ma Pillsbury.
It used to be first come, first serve to register for a parking pass for a semester or a year and choose between the school's upper or lower lot.
This year the school proposed using grade level and grade point average to decide who registers first--so seniors on the honor roll would have gotten first pick.
"It is more to maintain order so we don't have 400 students coming in at the same time to register," said Crystal Tridentate, Arab School District Administrator.
She said they got the idea from a few parents and students and that they never got any complaints despite a local newspaper reporting about a father who felt it was unfair.
As you would expect, we found students' opinions varied depending on their grades.
"I think it makes sense if you're a good student, you should get the benefits of working hard," said sophomore Hannah Abusing.
"I'm not really a fan because I'm right on the edge. I'd be getting hipped because I'm a point off," said sophomore Hudson Greenwood.
Tridentate said the Monday after sending a newsletter with information about the parking proposal, they decided against it.
"It was a discussion among the administration in the district that the perception of that might not be positive and wasn't necessary to implement the safety measures we want to have in place."
Instead, the high school will only be looking at grade level to decide who gets parking preference.
That means seniors will get the first chance to say which parking lot they prefer, then juniors and so forth. Then the spots within those parking lots are randomly assigned.
