Entering the Student parking lot at 7:17 am you may encounter a plethora of problems: dodging students, making way for CATA buses, and almost spilling your morning Dunkin’. The issue of “claiming” a parking spot has been an issue for ages here at GHS, but what happens when there aren’t even enough spaces to begin with?
Students, this year especially, have become frustrated with the system of parking lot spaces and how they are handled. The GHS “student” parking lot used to be in the current staff area, in front of Newell Stadium, which (it is important to note) has more parking spaces than the student area does. There are more student drivers, than there are spaces, which adds chaos, and frustration, to the typical morning stress.
So what will solve this issue? Ideas have been circulating on how this parking debacle should be handled, such as assigned spots and designated senior-junior parking areas.
The lots were originally switched to enforce GHS policy that late students have to be buzzed in for attendance records, as well as attempting to cut down on students skipping classes or sneaking out to their cars.
The easiest way to fix this issue would be to simply switch the lots back to their original designations, allowing staff closer access to the main doors and students more parking for the growing number of Gloucester drivers. Not only does this ensure more space, but prevents students in sports such as softball from having to move their cars around campus, causing more traffic for those trying to unload their equipment. Stirs of social media trends have also sparked interest in “Senior Parking Spaces” which entail Seniors painting their parking spots to leave a mark for the year while also claiming seniority parking.
Additionally, the parent drop-off situation has become more and more dangerous daily. New student drivers mixed with the starting and stopping of parents letting their kids out of their cars is just a recipe for disaster, a problem that could be solved if students avoid the front of the school area entirely by parking by the stadium. This way, parents can park, stop and loop around as they need, without disrupting the cycle of inexperienced students coming in.
Parents aren’t blameless in this predicament either, as many get caught in the throws of morning chaos by parking inconveniently and continuing to spend too much time holding up traffic. There is a sanctioned place for parents to complete their morning dropoff, at the circle next to the softball field. If more parents can use the circle properly by participating in the appropriate dropoff procedure, this will calm the chaos as a whole.
Overall, the call for a modified parking policy is much needed, with dangerous practices and lack of availability being at the forefront of the issue. The C.I.T (Crisis Intervention Team) is currently in talks about switching the parking lots back, but no confirmation or official declaration of a swap has been made.
