Parents wreak havoc in student parking lot

For students driving to Blair, turning left into the parking lot on University Blvd has become a nightmare due to the large number of parents using the parking lot as a drop off. The long wait at the light has made students anxious and annoyed at parents. Recently, the intersection was the scene of an accident in which a car flipped over a student's car and into the neighboring firehouse.

The administration has exhausted all means of ousting parents from the student parking lot. They have sent letters home, made parents turn around, and asked them not to return, all of these efforts have proven to be unsuccessful. As a last resort they are offering student service learning hours for students willing to help direct traffic.

Senior Sandra Winters said that the traffic caused by parents in the parking lot has made her late to class many times. She said besides creating long lines at the stop light, parents are also creating congestion in the parking lot. "Parents park the car, let the kids out, and wait for them to get their stuff together, in the middle of the parking lot so no cars can pass them," Winters said.

Senior Ariel Wilchek has arrived at school only to find her space being occupied by a parent. According to Wilchek the only way to get parents to leave is for her to honk.

Security guard Jose Segura, who directs traffic in the student parking lot every morning, attributes the problem to long lines at the student drop off on Colesville. He said because the traffic on Colesville causes a back up on the beltway he can not prohibit parents from using the student parking lot. "Basically, the way the school is set up is not good," he said.

Segura said that the solution to the back up caused by parents is to control the flow of traffic. This has proved difficult because of a lack of cooperation from parents who refuse to listen to him. "The parents are not setting a good example for the kids," he said.

Until parents start cooperating and Segura receives help in the morning it looks as though students driving to school will have to continue to wait in long lines at the light and in the parking lot each morning.