Colorguard’s morning practice is causing parking conflict

You slept in late because your alarm didn’t go off. Or maybe you went out to breakfast with your family. Maybe you had to drop your brother off at school since he missed the bus. Regardless of the situation, you’re in a hurry to get to first period before the bell rings. But the moment you pull into the school parking lot you see everyone frantically driving up and down searching for a place to park, and you realize you’re going to be late because of one thing: the color guard is taking up all the parking.

For the past few weeks, our school’s colorguard has been using rows of parking spaces behind the auditorium for their morning practice, including some students’ paid for spots. This becomes an issue as it grows closer to 9 a.m. and the spots that are available start to disappear in the blink of an eye. Not only has this been causing increased tardies, but it also causes more reckless driving as student drivers race through the parking lot trying to find a parking spot in the few minutes that they have. It shouldn’t be necessary to park on the complete opposite side of the school from where your first class is, or even take another student’s paid for parking spot as an only option. This dilemma has created tension between the students unable to park and the colorguard members.

Although it has been causing madness towards those trying to find a place to park, it is evident that there are not many options for the colorguard when it comes to appropriate places to practice. Students in the morning athletics period take up the football field and gyms, leaving only fields in the back of the school and other parking lots that are even more crowded than the auditorium lot unused. A large amount of space is needed for the colorguard to have enough room for their moves involving flags as well as to demonstrate proper spacing between individuals. This leaves this particular parking lot most desirable and really the only suitable site for the team.

To prevent students from having no where to park resulting in tardies, as well as provide the colorguard with an appropriate area to practice, it is necessary to find a compromise in sharing a location used as well as a change in time for the colorguard to rehearse. If the team were to have specific days to use the field, as well as practice at specific times in the morning before or after 10-15 minutes before the first bell, the chaos would cease and students could go back to having enough time to get to class from their car.

The colorguard is an important part in demonstrating the pride of our school that deserves a proper location for practicing. Students also deserve the right to park in an appropriate spot to get to class on time to prevent tardiness and further tension. Finding a balance in these two issues will result in fairness for everybody, as well as an to the end the parking pandemonium.