Beginning this school year, Coppell High School has moved its parent loop to student parking lot from its former location in the back entrance. The bus loop is now in the back of the school, circling the faculty parking lot near the fieldhouse.

The change in locations aims to ease previous congestion seen in school traffic and help students reach off campus destinations in buses quickly.

“It just made more sense for our kids and from a safety perspective, just to be able to have kids walk out of the back of the school and ride their buses,” assistant principal Nick Coenraad said.

The placement of bus loop this year is not an entirely new change, as previous years at CHS have seen the same layout. The former location was changed last year due to an increase of students utilizing bus transportation. However, with the construction of a new freshman campus coming into play this year, the bus loop no longer faces the pressures of a larger population of students who ride the bus.

The switch in bus location physically separates CHS parents and bus drivers, and is a relief to bus drivers who are now rid of potential accidents experienced with CHS parents.

“I’ve driven for Carrollton Farmers Branch (CFBISD) for 14 years and all of the schools there, we’ve picked up and dropped off in the back,” Coppell ISD bus driver Kenny Boston said. “Now that Coppell is doing this with their high school, it’s just better for us to be away from the parents.”

Although no major issues have been experienced in the bus loop, the new policy now faces challenges in student parking and the parent loop with a certain crowd: student drivers.

With both parents and student drivers sharing the road in just two designated lanes, some students complain that traffic hinders rather than helps traffic patterns and prefer the past layout.

“The fact that [administration] put the parent loop where the students are parking increases the traffic tenfold,” senior Alex Gross said. “[Another solution] would be to put it back to what it was like last year, with the buses in the front and parents in the back.”

Although the change does not severely affect students with release periods, the same cannot be said for those who have a further commute, work or family responsibilities after school or are underclassmen with no designated parking spot who often have to sit through the line of traffic.

Sophomore Piper Gifford has taken her concern one step further with the help of online platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram, by creating a petition in late August. Calling for the removal of the parent loop in the student parking, Gifford attempts to publicly rally support from CHS students, faculty and parents through the petition.

“There’s just so many cars in one small space trying to get out at one time,” Gifford said. “It feels like it should be unlawful.”

Gifford hopes to reach 500 signatures on the petition, but no guaranteed response has been received by administration.  

“I turned in a note into the office the other day and three people had told me they signed my petition, and I didn’t even know them,” Gifford said. “So [the petition] is definitely getting around.”

Although the policy is not well-received by some students on campus, CHS administration stands by the decision with confidence that traffic will move along more efficiently as time passes with the combined effort of the Student Resource Officers (SRO’s), administration and drivers simply making adjustments to their schedules.

“Change is hard at first, but once we get used to it, it’ll be good,” Coenraad said.

Administration has also observed a general clearance of the parent loop by 4:30, a difference of 20 minutes after the school day ends in result of the new policy. Though the difference in time is not a drastic improvement to previous years, administration thinks the effects of the strategy are within a reasonable timeframe.

“It just takes some getting used to and figuring out the best ways to get out of the parking lot,” Coenraad said. “I know safety is a big concern and that is one of the things we are looking at.”