The junior lot is no longer a carpool lane. This message was dispatched to all families of Athens Drive students at the start of the school year.
The carpool lane has been moved to the band entrance making cars drive a whole 20 feet further. This was explained in the message that many parents put straight to voicemail.
The message was sent in mid-September, but every morning I am still late to class because the line is slower than the highway during rush hour. As soon as Athens Drive becomes backed up, students know that they are going to be late to class because they are stuck behind the ten cars of parents who either did not get the message or just chose to not listen to it.
The very first day of school, it was so easy coming into the junior lot, as obedient parents followed the rules and moved their travels to the band entrance. It was so nice to be able to arrive at 7:16 a.m. and be parked and in my classroom with time to spare.
But, of course, there were still parents who did not listen or did not care and soon the rebellion turned into a big game of follow the leader. Once cars saw that some parents were still going through the junior lot, others gave up on the new solution and went back to being part of the problem.
Hundreds of students park in the junior lot, including juniors and seniors. Add all of those students to the number of people who come in to stop for a minute, and then continue moving at the pace of a sloth, and the numbers are insane.
The struggle to get into the parking spaces puts additional stress on students on top of the stress they already have from school work and tests. Tardy sweeps can also be added into the equation when you have been swept three times because of reasons a student cannot control or predict.
As if the long line was not enough to make students regret spending money on a parking spot, but the impatience of the parents when students are trying to cross does not help the situation. Every morning when walking into the school I am almost hit by a car because it is 7:24 a.m. and I am not going to stop for a parent whose child has to be dropped off at the door. It is basic driving rules: pedestrians have the right-of-way. But go ahead and hit me, have fun paying my medical bill.
A simple solution to this problem would be to just come to school earlier. However, I do not want to change my ways because parents refuse to change theirs. Therefore, an even simpler solution is for parents to listen to the directions and drop off their kids in the new carpool lane.
