Student parking frustrations are nothing new, but English teacher Chris Cotton has an angle on the problem.
Shaker Heights High School provides no dedicated parking for students. Instead, student drivers fill the roads around the oval — Onaway Road, Aldersyde Drive and Laurel Road — or park on Parkland Drive beside the administration building. Three separate staff lots surround the school, but students are prohibited from using them.
In 2024, Cotton sent a proposal to Superintendent David Glasner, arguing that accessible spots for students, staff and visitors were too few. “There is not enough parking at the high school. Every student who drives, every teacher who drives, and every parent who drives to the school for events will agree,” he wrote. “I think we have the space to make more room, and to make more parking spaces,” he said. He proposes creating diagonal parking because it “doesn’t take up more space than what we have.”
Cotton’s idea is to convert the oval’s parallel parking into diagonal parking. Drivers who park diagonally typically park at an angle of 45 degrees, which accomodates more cars. “I measured it out, and we would only have to cut about four feet of the inside of the oval,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a big loss. We would have to take out a few trees, or move a few trees, but that’s not too hard.”
Glasner said the district reviewed the 2024 proposal and appreciated the work Cotton put in to craft it. “It is important to note that moving to diagonal parking would require some degree of street widening, which can be both an extensive and expensive project,” he said.
In his proposal, Cotton argued that the parking problem “exacerbates other problems,” including tardiness and a general lack of belonging. The lack of available space, he wrote, also makes it difficult for teachers who work in multiple buildings to reach their high school classes on time. Cotton said that parallel parking around the oval “is a waste of space.”
“It’s not an efficient way to have parking, and I think that the school ought to have more parking spaces. Because there aren’t enough.”
Students are on board with this issue. Senior Sofija Sullivan said that parking should be a top priority as the district considers high school renovations. “A student parking lot should be number one priority to prevent crashes,” she said. “Most students have hit each other around the oval.”
Junior Delaney Willis said her car has been hit while parked on the oval. “One day a car backed into mine,” Willis said.
Senior Arabella Kielbasa said that she often struggled to find space, even when arriving by 7:45 am. “Sometimes the cars were backed up so much that I almost parked in the crosswalk,” she said. “I haven’t gotten hit, but I know many other students who have.”
Cotton’s proposal also referenced previous attempts to address parking. He said staff lectures on punctuality and police ticketing have had little effect. During a 2018 episode of construction, the district offered 34 temporary parking spaces at City Hall — a .7 mile, 14-minute walk. Cotton said that the long walks and limited options make students more likely to arrive late, especially seniors who depend on driving.
Cotton said senior students helped inspire the proposal. “I teach a lot of seniors, and I hear them complain and talk about the tickets they get. Sometimes the tickets they receive are
really aggressive,” he said.
A student parking ticket issued Nov. 12 listed a $25 fine if paid within 30 days, increasing to $100 if paid after 30 days. Handicap zone violations cost $100, rising to $300.
Cotton said that lectures alone will never fix the issue. “If you don’t have enough parking spots, it doesn’t matter if people are on time or late or early. You’re still going to run out of parking spots.”
The district says it will continue to work with the city to find improvements. “We will keep Mr. Cotton’s proposal in mind as we move forward with our Master Facilities Plan, which will eventually address the high campus,” Glasner said.
A version of this article appears in print on page 10 of Volume 96, Issue 3, published Dec. 15, 2025.
