Stamford Students Upset Over Changes To School Parking

STAMFORD, CT — Westhill High School students are calling on the city to delay the start of the construction of a new school until after the current academic year to avoid taking away student parking at the Roxbury Road school.

Senior Sean Dao circulated a petition, which has nearly 300 signatures, calling for the April 1 start of the project to be delayed.

"We are immensely disappointed that student parking at Westhill High School will be taken away starting April 1st 2026," the petition reads. "We understand student parking is a privilege and not a right. However, we had no say in the decision-making process of starting construction on April 1st, which eliminated our parking, instead of delaying it until the end of the school year and/or providing alternative parking. Now, we have to rely on our parents driving us to school again or arranging for extra school buses, adding extra cost to the school district expenses funded by our tax dollars."

Patch reached out to a district spokesperson for comment, but did not immediately receive a reply.

Starting next month, construction is scheduled to begin on the new, 450,000-square-foot Westhill High School, which is slated to be completed for the 2029-30 school year, according to officials. The project is estimated to cost $446 million, of which the state is committed to cover more than $350 million of the budget.

Parking and afternoon pickup at the school has become increasingly chaotic in recent weeks, prompting the district to call on parents and guardians to avoid coming to school before 2 p.m. when students are dismissed.

"We are writing to address a significant safety concern regarding the 'gridlock' conditions occurring in the Roxbury parking lot during afternoon dismissal," district officials wrote. "Currently, vehicles are arriving as early as 1:30 PM, parking illegally in fire lanes, and blocking designated staff parking. This creates a hazardous environment that obstructs emergency access and compromises the safety of our students and staff."

In a message to Patch, Dao reiterated the points he made in the petition, and separately noted that in the message about the gridlock conditions, the district had an incorrect date listed for the start of the 2 p.m. pickup requirement.

"As a soon-to-be voting and contributing member of the Stamford community, I am deeply disappointed and upset that we are forced to have our parents drive us or take public transportation," Dao wrote. "I know student parking at Westhill is a privilege and not a right, but many of us worked hard to earn good grades and save for a car and related expenses, like insurance, to be able to drive ourselves to school. However, the City of Stamford and the Stamford Board of Education never made us part of the decision-making process, even though we are most affected by this new parking policy."

Dao added, "In fact, the School Administration is doing such a bad job when it comes to parking that in a recent email, dated March 11th, with the subject 'Westhill Afternoon Pickup,' they complained that the parking situation is creating 'a hazardous environment that obstructs emergency access and compromises the safety of our students and staff.' If the City of Stamford and the Board of Education think the parking situation is bad now, imagine what it will be like when student parking at Westhill is eliminated starting April 1st. Even more parents will then be picking us up and dropping us off. Furthermore, to show how 'competent' the adult decision-makers are, they did not even get the date correct when they stated 'Effective Monday, March 18th' for the parking area near Roxbury Elementary School. Do they mean Monday, March 16th, or Wednesday, March 18th?"