Diane Goularte, Executive Assistant to the Principal, answers questions regarding when and under what circumstances parents are allowed to use the bus circle

3 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 4. Student parking lot.

A white Mercedes honks as a gray Honda suddenly turns around and blocks the road in the student parking lot. The drivers — apparently parents — frown and gesture with their hands.

“It took me around ten minutes just to get out of the parking lot,” Seema Chawla, parent of sophomore Neha Chawla, said.

Compared to the rows of cars with waiting parents, the bus circle seems much less busy — students can walk toward their parents’ cars without having to wait until impatient drivers pass by.

However, in a survey of 23 randomly selected parents waiting at the student parking lot, it appears that none of them know that the bus circle is open to picking up their children. El Estoque talks to Executive Assistant to the Principal Diane Goularte to clarify the bus circle policies.

El Estoque: When are parents allowed to use the bus circle?

Diane Goularte: Parents are allowed to use the bus circle as long as it’s not blocked off.

EE: Why is the bus circle blocked off in the morning, especially when there is a lot of traffic in the student parking lot?

DG: The bus circle is normally blocked off before first period because when parents try to exit the bus circle, they create a lot of traffic in McClellan Road. However, parents are allowed to use the bus circle to drop of their kids during first period. Or if you have an appointment during the day and your parents are picking you up, they are allowed to park in the bus circle. We have actually stopped staff members who wanted to park in the bus circle to leave those spots open.