Disgruntled over the fact that parking was strictly on a first-come-first-serve basis for the first day of school, seniors were ready to breath their collective sigh of relief as they journeyed to the gym for ASB cards, planners, and the promised parking passes.

However, an already poorly organized situation deteriorated into mayhem, as senior after senior directed to the bookkeeper to turn in their driving forms were left dejected after learning parking registration would not take place until tomorrow.

While some students took the news harder than others, by the end of the day, most had come to peace with the fact that it would only mean one more day of waking up early to ensure a spot. Unlike objects viewed in one’s side view mirror, the light at the end of this tunnel may be further than it appears.

A registration mix-up means no rest for weary students already coping with the loss of summer.

After school today, I asked Skyline’s beloved bookkeeper Barb Dekruyf how parking would play out on Thursday, and received an unsettling response. Dekruyf first said that she would not be handling the registration at all, outside of those who still needed to pay the fee (which can also be paid on the district’s website without standing in line- I highly suggest this). As for who would, Dekruyf was far from sure. She said that parents would be on the stage with a table during lunch, but then recalled that the parents had bailed out, and students would be in charge instead.

When contacted, two ASB members generated three different responses.

The first contact still believed that registration would be held at the bookkeeper’s office Thursday and Friday, while the second officer did not know what was planned, and promised to get back to me Thursday. Soon thereafter, the second ASB member messaged back, saying the infamous Sean the Security Guard would be handling the parking registration on his own.

As of now, it is sufficiently unclear where, and during which part of the day parking registration will take place. Although it is probable that registration will be available somewhere tomorrow, I would not recommend arriving to school exceedingly early in order to hunt down the bookkeeper, and/or Sean, and/or an ambiguous table of ASB officers.

Dekruyf herself advised me and fellow senior Travis Lund to wait until Friday, or possibly even Monday, until matters were more concrete and organized. Dekruyf’s final message before we left: “Let other people stand around in the long lines until it gets figured out.”

If high school truly is intended to prepare students for the real world, then this senior class of 2009 will be well prepared if the first day is any indication; Skyline has managed to escalate the simple, decade-tested process of parking registration into a bureaucratic catastrophe even the real-life Department of Licensing would be proud to call their own.