by Autumn Pecarovich
To increase school safety student parking has been moved to the dirt parking lot. Many questions have been raised about what the future of Minarets parking will look like.
During an interview, principal Daniel Ching stated, “The primary focus of this change is to keep students safe.” He continued, “We wanted a plan to identify where cars were and what would be the best place to put students so that we could monitor who's on campus. The change will help free up the main parking lot for when parents are picking up and buses are coming in.” He believes that students will be more closely monitored because students have to pass by the food personnel, the security, and Chawanakee Academy before reaching this new parking area. Principal Ching explained further; “Two years ago the staff went through active shooter training. And this was inspired by some of the suggestions that have been brought up by a Madera County sheriff based on how shootings have happened in the past.” In the case of emergencies, students can be transported off campus more quickly when the main parking lot is free for busses to get in and out.
One of the biggest concerns about the new student parking lot is how muddy the lot will get when the rain comes. Principal Ching said that is was “...part of the district plan to pave the lot. I hope that by this time next year it will be completely paved. We're most likely going to be laying down, a good layer of gravel so that it's not muddy. If that doesn't happen or if it's not good enough and the driving conditions are not very safe and damage could happen to cars, then we'll temporarily move the kids back to the other parking area during the school day, until the lot is dry enough to use.” When asked about how administration will stop students from hazardous driving- such as doing donuts in the lot- he said, “We've got to work on stopping the reckless driving out there. We do have to get better about monitoring the parking lot before and after school and, during the school day. We have added a new security person morning and afternoon who is still in training. She's new, but the intent is that she would be kind of focused in those areas.”
He then answered about potential damage due to the unmaintained parking lot and stated that “Parking on a high school campus because there is transportation provided to all students is a park at your own risk situation. But if there are ruts and things like that could cause damage or a student or family feels like it could, those can be reported and we can work on it. But that's really like a case by case basis.” Ching commented further about the security in dirt lot saying, “We need to put up some signs that inform students how to report something they witness. But we can position someone closer out there. We're confident that by having someone in the main parking lot, you can easily have eyes on the dirt parking lot. If that's not good enough, like I said, people just need to communicate with administration to help out.”
Students will be allowed to park in the main lot after school because the main focus of this change is to monitor guests and students coming in and out during the school day. Change can be difficult but asking questions and talking about your concerns makes things easier.
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