I’m a teacher at Hellgate, and a parent of two Hellgate students. Please do not implement any parking restrictions here. This is unnecessary and would only be an unfair tax on students, parents, and school staff. We already have problems with attendance- we do not need another barrier to getting kids here on time. When I had to leave school during the day for a meeting or errand, it’s already tough finding parking upon return. Now I’ll have to pay? Also, a lot of our student body comes from Bonner, Clinton, Potomac, and all areas around town. These kids need to drive if they want to be involved in any after-school activities, or if they don’t want to get up to meet a bus at 6:45 am. Bottom line: you’re looking to make a buck off of a population that shouldn’t be double-taxed. Please don’t do this.

If students have to pay for parking that makes it inaccessible to a large population of the students. It is especially unfair to the kids that don't have access to other options and cannot afford to pay the fee for the parking pass. Not only that but paying for the pass would not be a guaranteed spot. As a student at Hellgate myself I believe that overall making the parking situation even more difficult does not seem to be a solution.

I beleive that putting a price on local parking surrounding Hellgate high school would not be beneficial. While taxing this could benefit our local funding, I also think that it is important to maintain free parking because over time this payed paking for individuals will add up a lot over time which will be harder for some adolecents to maintain payments. Instead of pricing our parking I feel as if we could maybe try to obtain funding another way? As a student, I find it very important to prevent budget cuts in our programs (especially the programs revolving the arts) because they are effecting all of the student body while maintaining our funds.

I am an accompanist and I get to work for the choral program at Hellgate High School. Parking is already quite the challenge at Hellgate, and since I only come to certain periods of the day, I come and go several times, and it often takes me a while to find a spot on the street. I also typically come for 2-3 days surrounding performances throughout the year, which ends up to be 5-7 times. I haven’t raised my prices in several years, but if a parking permit is enforced, I suppose I will have to in order to cover my permit cost. And who pays my accompanist fees? I believe choir student fundraising. So that doesn’t seem right.

Parking isn't a problem only for students at Hellgate. It is part of a broader problem for the 30% of Missoula County who live outside the city limits and beyond county lines. There has been an effort to make Missoula a city that is bicycle friendly with fewer cars, which is an admirable environmental effort. However, Missoula is home to schools, medical facilities, the airport, all of the government and judicial offices for the entire county, and is the center for shopping and entertainment for most of western Montana and northern Idaho. Anyone who lives east of Bonner and west of the airport is reliant on a car to access all of these services and amenities. Hellgate serves students from Clinton to the east, as far north as Seeley Lake, Lolo to the south and many students from all over Missoula who opt into Hellgate but live outside our bussing boundary. If these students have after school jobs, sports or other after-school obligations, which many of them do, the school busses are of no help and a car becomes a necessity. The lack of public transportation for everyone outside of Missoula is a separate issue, but further substantiates the need for students and all county residents to drive cars and have places in town to park them. The effort to lessen car use originated in the city but affects everyone who comes to Missoula. The streets belong to all of us, but many of the cars parked on the streets around Hellgate are owned by individuals who have the option to park them somewhere on their property or in their alleys. These individuals are also more likely to be proponents of the effort to lessen reliance on cars and have the privilege of having access to alternatives for transportation. For the students and other county residents who do not have that privilege, and most often do not have the financial privilege of the residents living in the vicinity of Hellgate High School, there should not be cost or limitation on parking on these communally owned streets. Efforts would be well spent generating additional transportation services and parking opportunities; maybe collaborating with UM and their park and ride service, offering school busses later in the day or Mountain Line busses that offer service beyond the current boundaries, or exploring the possibility of being able to use some of the private lots near the school, such as the property owned by Lambros Rentals at 1001 S Higgins, that often have available spots. Until other options can be thoroughly evaluated, please continue to have free parking available to Hellgate students and staff. Thank you.

So many people complain that the quality of education is insufficient and that attendance rates are far too low. Introducing parking fees, however, certainly won't improve the situation—it will only make it worse. Think about the future—specifically, the future of us students: what will become of our prospects if we are forced to pay simply to attend school and further our education? Not everyone can afford that expense on a daily basis. Furthermore, some students participate in multiple sports or head straight to work after school, which is why taking the bus is not a viable long-term solution.

The parking situation at Hellgate is as we all know, awful. I agree that a solution needs to be implemented but I don't see how this helps anything. Without adding more spaces to park, the solution won't be fixed. Making attending school cost money will only disincentivize students from attending school further. The bus system is not available to all students, as many students participate in before or after school events on top of the norm. Students do not need this burden added onto what we are all already doing.

Hello, I’m a current student at Hellgate High School. I would like to make a comment and be one of the voices that is AGAINST the pay to park around the area of my school. I arrive to find a parking spot around 7:30 am to 8:00 am every day. And I get out at 3:35 and I’d say I get to my car at around 4pm. That is around 8 hours my car would be sitting in its spot. Over time I would be spending way more than necessary just to be at school. Another point I’d like to make is that it’s completely unfair students would be the main people this situation would affect. Attendance is already at an all time low so what you would expect a school full of children which the majority of them don’t even have jobs. And the ones who do like myself spend a large sum of my pay check on gas alone. These children will not have the money to pay for this. Public education is supposed to be free. And this would make it to where I’d have to pay for my education. Please don’t do this, it will definitely impact more people than you guys would think it’s helping. Thank you, please take this into consideration

Hi! I’m a former Hellgate teacher and a current high school teacher and I know that anything that facilitates parents’ ability to attend meetings and events at school directly helps students, and even small barriers can have a crucial impact on low-income or struggling families. Furthermore, without a designated area for students and staff to park, this will further complicate a situation that is already incredibly difficult, especially for students and staff that learn and educate at multiple high schools and/or the University of Montana. To consider metered parking without providing adequate parking at no-charge for Missoula’s only urban high school would be a great disservice to the community surrounding Hellgate.

As the supposed future of this country I assume you all want us to have a good and strong education. You should be wanting to encourage us high schoolers to attend school not the other way around. By making us pay to park you are putting yet another barrier in our path to free education. If you want us to come to school making us pay for parking sure isn't going to do it. The attendance of Hellgate students is already low, paying for parking will make this issue twice as big.

This is stupid. This solves literally nothing, if you make everyone pay, everyone will just park in spots where they don't have to pay, meaning that the problem doesn't go away, it just moves to a different spot and affects other people. This also means that people that may be needing to park in the region will literally not be allowed to. If you don't pay, you can't park. Students that can't afford or do not have access to parking passes will be forced park elsewhere, therefore the problem doesn't change, parking passes just make it a hassle for everyone else. It would likely result in lots of young people under 18 having parking infractions because they have no choice. In extreme cases this could lead to people having their license revoked.

Do not go through with this, it is only a hassle for people and law enforcement and an expense that no one needs.

I am a student at Hellgate High school, and I’m writing to share concerns about the proposed parking permit restrictions around our campus.
While I understand the intention may be to manage parking availability, this policy would create significant challenges for students. Our school does not have adequate student parking, and many of us rely on nearby street parking to attend school consistently.
Additionally, many students have responsibilities outside of school, including jobs, extracurricular activities, and family obligations. These commitments often require flexible transportation, which the bus system cannot always accommodate due to scheduling limitations.
It’s also important to consider that students contribute to the surrounding businesses regularly. Restricting parking may reduce customer traffic and negatively impact those businesses as well.
I respectfully ask that you reconsider implementing these parking permits or explore alternative solutions that better support both students and the local community.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Savannah Hanner a student at Hellgate High School

As a student at Hellgate I think this is unreasonable and unfair as you will still have approximately 2000 cars in the 530 spaces you will just be charging them to do it and therefore will simply be making money off an already bad parking situation while still not improving the parking situation. I will still be having to park far away from the school, I will just now have to pay to do it.

As an upcoming driver, I believe that this is not the best solution. Also, as a student who does 2 sports, I don’t exactly have a lot of time to make money. I’m sure that it won’t be too expensive for parking but the personal money that I do have could go to more important things like lunch, gas etc. Some students could also have it way worse and have no extra money to pay for a parking permit. This idea also may make students dread coming to school even more. If our school and education is free, then our parking should be free as well.

Hello! I play trombone in Hellgate high schools band. I’ve been given the opportunity to join the highest level jazz band, an amazing offer that I intend to take next year, when I will be able to drive.( practice is before school) but if I can’t park then I won’t be able to drive there, and If I can’t drive, I can’t join the band. In addition, I would need a job to pay for parking, which I couldn’t get if I couldn’t drive to it from school. I’m in a predicament here, between my future in band, and your parking plans. I just hope you consider students like me in your decisions.

This is not fair, students who attend school need parking and some students need their car to get around and can't take the bus or have someone drop them off. It's not fair to make them pay for parking in a school zone. Also making them pay money for parking isn't fair just to spend your money on something you need while you are in school will make students not want to go to school at all. I hope you can find a better solution.

Expecting students who already have difficulty finding parking to pay on top of that is ridiculous. The school and its students are not the problem, the management of the space around the school and the lack of parking accessible is the issue. Students are late every day due to insufficient parking. Paying for parking would not only lengthen the parking process, but would add financial burden and make parking unnecessarily complicated. The school was there before the houses, so claiming that the school is causing issues for homeowners is an issue that could've been prevented a long time ago by implementing parking that is student-accessible. Yes parking in front of homes is often occupied by students, but that is due to the lack of student-available parking. there is one, very small parking lot 3 blocks from school that is accessible to students. Most students are unaware of this lot, but it doesn't even matter because it fills up so quickly due to its low capacity for cars. Also, most houses in the area have garages or driveways. Everyone in the area, people living in the area and students alike could benefit from more parking, not paid and restricted parking. A large portion of students have after school commitments and/or live too far for the available transportation options like busses or walking. Driving IS essential to a lot of people. I have a job that I could not get to in time without driving, most of the people I know also have jobs or sporting commitments that require them to drive themselves somewhere after school. For the most part, the issue is lack of parking, not too many cars. The city should allocate funds to things that would make a beneficial impact to people's lives.

I think making kids get permits is a terrible choice. Lots of kids won’t be able to afford to get one, leading to them not having a way to school. Having these permits is going to cause lots of kids attendance to drop to, from not finding rides. This is a public school, not everyone has extra money laying around for a permit.

Hello, I am a current student at Hellgate, and paying for parking would be ridiculous. There’s already limited parking available and to pay for that would be absurd. Finding parking is a big issue as is, paying for parking would make it ten times harder. Other high schools in the district have free parking available, it wouldn’t be fair to have us pay for parking.

I feel that this project would have an unfair impact on Hellgate students. Many have to drive to school because they have sports or work after school, so riding the bus is not an option and they might live too far from the school to be able to safely bike or walk. This project feels like a money grab done by the city without regard for the effects it will have on the teen population. We have to be here everyday and a parking lot is not an option for us. The only spots for students to park is in the surrounding neighborhoods. The streets surrounding Hellgate are public and adding a permit will limit how students can get to school. I am strongly against making the Hellgate area permit parking. Leave it alone!