Construction began on Bailey Ranch Road Jan. 23 to improve the road conditions when driving. This road was the main road students used to arrive at school. With the road closed, the only road available is Bankhead Highway.

“I don’t understand why they couldn’t begin at the end of the school year,” junior Vivian Frias said. “No matter how early I am I can never seem to make it to school on time, instead I have to rush to class praying I don’t get locked out and have to get a tardy slip.” 

A few weeks prior to the construction during flex, the administration wanted to notify students and warn them to leave earlier because of the traffic. 

“I feel like it’s a waste of my time going all the way around,” senior Max Carpenter said. “There’s already traffic when I leave and it sets me back about twenty minutes.” 

The construction started when the tardy kiosks were implemented. Many students had tardy slips and lunch detention because of the traffic. 

All of this traffic has impacted my attendance in many ways,” senior Dustin Ortega said. “I have to leave by 6 a.m. to avoid at least some of the traffic.”

The kiosks have three slips of paper, two including warnings and the third leading to lunch detention. After the bell, students line up by the kiosk in the hall of their classroom and scan their ID badge. 

“I have to drop my younger sister off at the middle school and beat the traffic to be on time,” junior Hannah Link said. “When I got to school at 8:33 a.m. and I had to wait in line for the kiosk which made me later to class and my teacher hadn’t even taken attendance yet, it’s really frustrating.”