As the 2023-2024 school year begins, the Woodgrove High School parking lot continues to prompt potentially embarrassing talks with moms and frustrating financial burdens. The inconvenient design of the parking lot has tormented Wolverine drivers for many years – whether it’s attempting to park, or causing late arrivals into school. According to Woodgrove’s SSO department, there have already been three incidents in the parking lot since the school year started. This does not include the accidents that have occurred at the entrance to the school. On the third day of school, there was a concerning crash, which halted traffic and disrupted attendance. The essence of safety could be better displayed, by design and students.
The design of Woodgrove’s parking lot is nothing less than inconvenient. The parking lot is divided into three sections, the junior lot stationed at the lower portion of the parking lot, the senior lot lies at the upper portion of the parking lot, and a staff lot located behind the school, which is restricted to staff members. The main road leads to the entrance of both student lots, whilst also leading to the bus loop. This area becomes congested, occasionally backing all the way up to the entrance on Allder School Road.
In addition, Woodgrove students have a rough reputation of attendance. Ms. Theresa Hoover notes that roughly 30 students are marked as late every school day. This could be due to students merely sleeping through their alarms, yet a congested roadway accounts for partial tardiness, especially on days where traffic is worse than usual.
Regarding traffic issues, entrances to Woodgrove and Mountain View can also be problematic. Possible solutions could be a roundabout or an officer conducting traffic. However, Mr. Ward Sigler states, “Timed or manual traffic would be the most viable option.” Woodgrove’s parking lot and entrance dilemma has seen broken guardrails, totaled cars, chipped paint, and loose bumpers. Parking lot and driving safety needs to be addressed by everyone entering or leaving Woodgrove High School by adhering to safer driving practices.
