Students who attend WHHS not only come from the surrounding area, but all over Cincinnati. Because of this, they come to school through various forms of transportation, including driving, walking and taking the bus. Nevertheless, all students experience the before-school and after-school atmosphere in the parking lots and streets around WHHS.

Many consider the current system to be generally successful. However, there are still aspects of driving and parking near the school that have potentially dangerous repercussions on everyone, whether they come by foot, car or bus.

One widely-recognized controversy is the illegal left turn out of Lot D onto Jonathan Ave. Cars trying to make this turn back up traffic as they wait for the turn to be open, which gridlocks the entire lot. Furthermore, the turn is illegal, and administration has tried to stop drivers from making the left turn by sending robo calls out to families and making announcements during the school day.

The lack of parking for students on campus also can have a negative impact because it forces many students to park off school campus.

Principal Jeffrey Brokamp recently conducted an investigative study to attempt to quantify this issue. The study found that at 9 a.m., when all students are at school, every spot on campus designated for student parking is taken. This likely means that some students are being forced to park off campus despite having bought a parking pass that allows them to park on campus.

Student Congress President Adam Sella has worked with Brokamp to try to find solutions to this issue.

“As [a] student congress, we can’t build parking lots but we can advocate for it. Mr. Brokamp, because he now has this information that there is no parking, he and Walnut will be looking to develop parking lots,” Sella said.

There has also been controversy in the past about students not being allowed to park in teacher-only lots, such as Lot A, and violators can face serious repercussions.

Nicolai Lekson

The WHHS Information Handbook for Students and Parents says that “students are not permitted to park in faculty, staff and visitor parking areas during the school day.”

However, some students believe that this rule is unfair, especially when the teacher parking lots do not fill up completely.

Many also believe that driving around WHHS can be dangerous because of the number of new drivers and the lack of concrete rules in parking lot-like settings.

“That’s definitely one of the big reasons why Mr. Brokamp wants to build another parking lot,” Sella said. “Because students walking around [WHHS] before school starts or after school…could lead to problems.”

Overall, there are many aspects of parking and driving at WHHS that students and faculty believe could be improved. It is a part of WHHS that affects everyone, no matter where one comes from and how one travels.

In the end, as long as students remain safe and they arrive and leave efficiently, the system can be considered successful.