The school year only started somewhat recently, but a lot of people have been talking about the car line. It’s been taking longer and longer for parents to exit the parking lot both during dropoff and pickup.
Even before I started working on this article, Assistant Principal Leon Metoyer asked my mom to time how long it took her to get in and out during dropoff. The final time she got was a little over 10 minutes. “I’m out there and I’m out there 95% of the time. I ask parents to set a timer for me sometimes. That’s how I know,” Metoyer said.
Metoyer also made it a point to remind students that this happens every year at the beginning, but he also admits that it’s a bit worse this year. “We have more students than we did last year, which is leading to a lot of it… and a lot of those parents are newer to the drop-off process. So they don’t know our procedures.” He also cites that cars continue to make illegal lefts out of the Highland parking lot. If you’ve been trying to exit lately, whether your parents or you are driving, you’ve definitely made a left turn before.
Mr. Metoyer also has a message for those who enter through the DHS alley. He says, “Using the alley between us and Duarte High School is not an alternative. In every way that is their property and they allow us to use the 400s on their property. So, we’re never entitled to just use that driveway without permission, and that seems to cause a little extra traffic because I’ve seen cars coming in from the alley side, as opposed to entering from Highland.”
Observing the No Food Rule