Have you ever had trouble trying to get out of the parking lot? Does the pickup line get in your way? Principal Chris McComb shared some very useful information about why pickup was set up the way it is and how. 

McComb first explained who made the layout for pickup. 

“When we opened in 2008, we had traffic engineers work with other city officials and the police department to outline what pickup would look like,” McComb said.

McComb went on to say that the parking situation was set up with safety and conveniences of the neighborhood and people who live nearby in mind. 

McComb also talked about the complaints they’ve gotten regarding the pickup set up. 

“Yes. I think with any pickup there is going to be people who think it should go one way or another,” McComb said. “However, for the most part, we’re pretty satisfied considering the population of 760 kids and a lot released at the same time, we do things like stagger the times of the bell. I think the most complaints we get are from people who are impatient or want to get here early.” 

High school and middle school do get out at different times that prevent any problems with student drivers trying to leave school. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, high school students get out at 2:42 p.m. Wednesday is a half-day and the release time for high school is at 1:08 p.m. Sixth grade gets out at 3:35 p.m. and seventh and eighth graders get out at 3:45 p.m. and on half days they get out at 1:35 and 1:45 p.m. respectively.

McComb explained that complaints don’t only come from student drivers and parents.

“… generally, it’s from neighbors because people create their own ways to pick up their kids and pick them up in the neighborhoods, there are some safety concerns there,” he said.

We also got some information from another perspective. Taryn Brock, a junior at Imagine Prep, talked about the inconvenience the pickup line brings to her as a student driver. 

“It is not convenient for me at all,” Brock said. “I am parked at the back of the parking lot and the pickup line wraps around that area and I can’t back out and people don’t give me enough room and even if they did, there are kids everywhere and if I tried to back out I’d hit a kid.” 

Brock also added some suggestions she has to make the pickup layout more convenient for student drivers. 

“If they moved the pickup line anywhere else that doesn’t affect students that drive trying to leave or interfere with the parking lot in general,” Brock said. “I always see other students waiting there for about 15 minutes every day, it’s just getting old.”

For now, according to Mr. McComb, there aren’t going to be any changes to the pickup lines and where they are located.