Parents: Please follow the rules and don’t clog the parking lot

Graphic by Isabelle Wang

cuckoo parents go vroom vroom.

Changes to the dropoff system confused many parents and students at the start of the school year. 

In an email addressed to the community, principal Greg Louie announced modifications to the traditional dropoff path. Previously, there were two dropoff paths — cars could enter across from Lexington Court and take either a left toward the football field (Drop Off Option 1) or they could take a right turn toward Saratoga-Sunnyvale (Drop Off Option 2). Starting in August, the leftlane option (the one that allows parents to exit back onto Herriman Avenue) was closed.

While the update aimed to make the dropoff system less confusing for parents and prevent traffic jams, the unintended consequence has been that parents seem to have taken up a permanent residence in the senior parking lot near the exit onto Herriman Av. and Lexington Ct. 

Every morning, without fail, I’ve been cut off by a parent eager to drop off their student in the student parking lot to avoid the long parent dropoff line. This scofflaw move on the parents’ part makes it exponentially harder for me and others to park (something I already struggle with anyway). Additionally, trying to leave the parking lot at the end of the day is a futile task. Even if you manage to reverse out of your spot, the chances are the never-ending flow of parents leaving the parking lot makes it difficult for student drivers to exit in anything approaching a timely manner. 

I have just one small request from parents: Rather than trying to game the system, use the designated dropoff line and make life easier for your child and other students. The next time I nearly crash into a reckless parent who is trying to scam the system, I will take it as a sign that they’re choosing to purposefully antagonize students.

I know what you’re thinking now: But Sarah, what do you think parents should do? And I understand. Most parents have better things to do than work their way through a dropoff line every morning. 

The changes to the parking lot this year include only one “lane” available to parents, meaning that parents can no longer drive toward the football field to drop off their kids, and can only drive toward the McAfee Center and exit onto Saratoga-Sunnyvale. This means the same number of parents have to drop off their kids in the same amount of time with half of the space to do so.

 In my view, the administration should revert to the dropoff situation that had been used the 2021-22 school year (and years before then) — even if it was slightly clunky, it’s much better than the situation we’re in now. 

The new dropoff situation has led to all manner of crazy driving by parents. For example, many parents seem to have decided to take up residence in student parking lots, let out their children on the road on the way to school, cut off students while entering the parking lot and in the most extreme situations, go in the wrong direction (the arrows serve as an indicator of which way traffic should go, FYI).

At the end of the day, I don’t blame parents for their daily driving offenses. In fact, I empathize with them. And their struggles are exactly why we should revert the dropoff situation to the way it used to be to preserve both student drivers’ mental health and the safety of our parking lots.