A school parking lot is not the average parking lot. Rather than coming and going throughout the day, all of the cars arrive within a five minute span, as juniors and seniors alike rush to start their classes.

This rush often perpetuates safety issues, like making risky turns in front of traffic or speeding.

The school has a history of problems with the parking lot. In the past, there were increased amounts of traffic in the appointed drop off area due to large amounts of parent drop-offs in the parking lots. Parents trying to dodge the traffic gravitate toward the junior or senior lot, then park, leaving no spaces for students, causing unnecessary build up in the lots.

Administration fixed this issue earlier in the year by instituting the “Cone Policy,” where security guards strategically place cones at the entrance of lots to trap offending parents in order to help them review proper drop-off etiquette. If a parent is found violating the drop-off policy for a second time after being confronted, the school’s officer then has the power to ticket the offender.

Despite the resolution of this conflict, the parking crisis has a deeper issue.

There are only two entrances from the main road to the school. The primary entrance is at the intersection of Shorehaven Drive and North Great Neck Road, and is mostly used by juniors, parents, and buses. The second entrance, or the senior entrance, is used mainly by seniors and parents, and the occasional bus.

However, unlike the main entrance, the senior entrance has no traffic light and no traffic guards, putting drivers in a position to place other drivers and even pedestrians in harm, by encouraging them to take any available space to cut across the traffic.

According to the school’s Assistant Principal Dr. Sicignano who handles disciplinary actions at the school, the administration was well aware of the dilemma and have tried to take action.

Although the administration hopes to change the situation, it is not in the district’s budget to hire such a person or to appoint a current staff member to take on the responsibilities, like the one at feeder school, Great Neck Middle School.

According to Sicignano, the school has filed with the city to change the light cycle to decrease the flow of traffic, but the motion was denied. They then filed for a traffic guard, which was denied, and filed for a light at the senior entrance, which was once again, denied.

Director of Safe Schools Richard Ponti, as well as Senior Traffic Engineer for the City of Virginia Beach Mike Shahsiah, and Virginia Beach Police Special Operations Traffic Unit Officer Dwayne Whitehead  came to monitor the traffic in the school’s parking lots on behalf of interim Assistant Principal Gustafson.

According to school security guard Rocket Jackson the school received a brief commending the school for having one of the best parking lots in the district, emphasizing the fact that while the parking lot has shortcomings, the school’s issues don’t compare to those of other schools.

Although the turn into the senior lot is not ideal, students can lessen the time crunch by arriving earlier to school and avoiding the rush, which Safe Schools deems in between 7:05 and 7:18 a.m.

Also, students need to remember that being on time is not worth the medical bills, damages, and possibly even lives that poor driving decisions could cost.

With the cooperation of students, administration, and parents, the school parking lot can remain a safe place for all.