Students charge into the streets and jump out of moving cars. Vehicles collide, honk, swerve, stop, and start in unsafe positions. Tensions mount, and conflicts begin at 9:30 a.m. It is not an epic movie fight scene; it is the Potomac Falls morning drop-off line.

    The chaos of morning drop-off at Potomac Falls is extensive. Aside from the bus lane, there is only one entrance to the PFHS school parking lot. Combine this with the fact that Potomac Falls is at maximum capacity due to its large population of students attending on special permission, and you have one extremely clogged school entrance. 

    However, LCPS recently decided that beginning with the upcoming special permission application window for the 2025-2026 school year, “Special Permission is only permitted if the school requested has the capacity for additional students. If a school’s projected enrollment is at 90% of the school’s capacity, this school is classified as over-enrolled. Special Permission requests for these schools will not be accepted and no appeal process is available.”

    This new policy may slightly reduce the number of cars in the morning drop-off line at Potomac Falls. “It will be interesting to see, as the new policy is implemented, what practical benefits we will see at the school level,” said April Chandler, the Algonkian District School Board Representative.

    Because the road into the parking lot gets so backed up, people use a variety of routes to maximize their chances of getting in quickly. These include driving straight out of Cedarhurst; waiting in the left-hand turn lane off of Algonkian Parkway, which often takes two or three light cycles to get out of; and getting into the slightly more efficient right-hand turn lane, also off of Algonkian.

    While the right-hand turn lane is quicker in theory because cars are not constantly stopped by a red light, this lane usually gets so backed up that students, if their parents are driving them, will need to jump out of the (frequently slowing down, yet still moving) car and walk the rest of the way to school through the parking lot if they are to have any chance of making it into the building before 9:30. The starting and stopping that occurs in this lane has led to incidents of rear-ending.

    Meanwhile, students who walk to school have the choice of waiting at the crosswalk at the intersection at Cedarhurst or crossing the road at Middlefield, which is where many cars will make U-turns to get into the right-hand turn lane. 

    “There have been times where there was a car in the middle of the crosswalk, so I had to walk around it, and I was basically in the middle of the road,” said sophomore Carter Spritzer, who walks to school every day. “[These cars] could also cause a crash.” 

    Because of the dangers that arise when students run across the same part of the road where cars are turning, members of the community have made multiple attempts to implement safety measures. 

    Chandler said that, “In May 2024, the LCPS Transportation Division received a request to have a crosswalk installed at this intersection.” However, she explained that, “At this time, a crosswalk is not feasible at that location.” This is because a crosswalk here would require significant changes on the roadway.  

    Chandler stated, “With a pedestrian tunnel in very close proximity, it was recommended that students be directed to use the existing tunnel instead of constructing changes on the roadway… LCPS strongly encourages parents and students to utilize the pedestrian tunnel when crossing Algonkian Parkway at this intersection.” There has also been a request for a crossing guard at this intersection, which cannot be approved because there is no crosswalk.

    Potomac Falls has a stricter tardy policy for the 2024-2025 school year. Students who are not in the building by 9:30 a.m. are required to sign in at the front office, where they are automatically given an unexcused tardy slip, so tardies are no longer given on a teacher-to-teacher basis. 

    Additionally, while this policy is not always carried out, the guidelines are that after a student’s first tardy, they have a teacher conference and their parents are contacted. After a second tardy, the student receives in-class punishment and a restriction of privileges. After a third tardy, students are referred to an assistant principal for a more serious punishment. 

    However, a lot of tardies can be accounted for by the fact that the drop-off situation is so chaotic. Thus, even if students leave their homes with plenty of time to spare, there is no guarantee that they will make it into the building on time. Hopefully, in the near future, the problematic morning drop-off situation will be resolved, but for now, all we can do is abide by policy, enforce order, and speak up when we want change in and around our school.