By Satvika Ananth
Staff Writer

The Manara Academy, a new charter school in Coppell, faced many issues while being approved by the Coppell City Council, and one of the most pressing was the traffic issue.

The City Council meetings, normally fairly placid, reached a boiling point this summer with the proposal to open Manara Academy. People from across Coppell came forth with concerns about the new school.

“Most people on Heartz were concerned about traffic issues,” City Planner Clay Phillips said. “They were worried about parents using the residential streets to drop-off [of students.]”

However, the area had already been zoned for a school, as the building has previously been used for the Christ Our Savior Lutheran school. This made the transition to a new school easier, though concerns were still held since some students would be coming from outside of Coppell city limits.

These students would have to be bussed into the school, and could potentially clog traffic in the area. To alleviate the matter, the Planning and Zoning Committee of Coppell asked the school to increase the size of drop-off lanes so they could double as bus loops. This lowered the traffic in the area considerably.

“Enrollment was not as high as the school predicted, so there isn’t much back-up in the lanes,” homeowner Linda Mays said. “We are worried however, about people parking in no-parking zones.”

To make sure parents don’t park illegally, staff members will be monitoring the lanes outside the school on both London Way and Heartz.

In terms of other security, some residents worried about the increase of noise, and the safety of children walking to school. The Coppell Police Department went through their regular process to ensure the safety of the neighborhood.

“We introduced ourselves to the faculty, and explained the process to them,” Deputy Police Chief Steve Thomas said. “We treated the opening of this school just as we would any other school in the district.”