The growing student population at Clover High School means that not all of the students who wish to drive to school this year will be able to do so.

The school has 745 student parking spaces. All of those spaces filled up last month when administrators opened the online portal for purchasing a parking permit. Clover High currently has a wait list of 186 students who still want to park on campus during the upcoming school year. 

The sophomore class feels the shortfall the most, as the spaces are made available to students on the basis of seniority. 

Dean of School Operations Steven Peeler oversees parking at Clover High School. “We can’t keep up with the growing number of students,” Peeler said. “We’re always looking to adjust, to improve. I can’t just go out there and make a spot. I can’t give solutions right now.”

Peeler notes that there is an additional strain put on already overcrowded buses when students who want to drive to school have to look for alternative transportation to get to school.

Peeler says he hopes some relief will come after the first semester. A group of seniors will graduate early, which will make available some of the spaces that are currently occupied. Additionally, another parcel of land will be cleared to provide approximately 200 more parking spaces.

The parking shortage occurred just as the Board of Trustees approved a resolution to place a bond referendum on the November 8 ballot. The bond referendum seeks funding for a second high school in the district to alleviate the overcrowding issues, like parking, that are currently being experienced. The construction of a new high school would allow the Ninth Grade Campus to be converted into the district’s third middle school to relieve growing pains at the middle school level. Clover High School is among the top five largest high schools in the state of South Carolina, while Oakridge Middle School is among the top seven largest middle schools in the state.