Page 2: Packed parking lot persists

“Traffic was horrible. I was stuck in the line on Madison (Avenue) for about 10 minutes trying to get into the school parking lot,” junior DJ Spring said.

Many students expressed their frustration with the parking lot on the first day of school. Some students offered advice saying that showing up 30 minutes earlier than most students eased the morning rush.

“I’ve heard from other people it was a nightmare, but I learned from last year that you just have to get there early and get a good spot in the front rows,” junior Kaitlyn Jolly said. 

Some drivers are anxious about driving in the school parking lot because of the high accident risk with new students. The amount of cars in the parking lot can also cause anxiety in the student body.

“It’s too crowded and high risk for accidents,” parent Tami Bohrer said. “I feel like the oldest one there.” 

For some students those worries became a crushing reality.

On Aug. 11, junior Kaitlyn Reid was getting ready to perform with the cheerleaders when assistant principals Corey Gabbert and Jeromy Swearingen told her that her car got hit. 

“So when they first came to get me from inside, they didn’t tell me anything until we got outside, and then Gabbert told me, ‘oh, by the way, your car is destroyed,’” Reid said. “… When I saw the front bumper and everything, I started tearing up.”

Her car was totaled but the other student’s insurance company paid to fix it. 

Many new students are driving themselves to school for the first time, and then there are the students who just got permits. These students — and their parents — often don’t understand how the parking lot is supposed to flow. 

This combination halted traffic the morning of Aug. 12. 

“A complete disaster,” junior Cassidy Barker said. “It can take upwards to 30 minutes to even park your car, even longer if you’re someone who needs to park closer.”

However, after the first two days of traffic in the parking lot seemed to get better. One reason the parking lot may have been crazy the first two days was because students were leaving at the same time.

“We also had no sports started, so all the football players, cross country players, all the volleyball players, whoever else does an after school activity,” assistant principal Shane Seeley. “They were also leaving at the same time.”