Renovations at Plano Senior High School are causing problems for students, according to a concerned parent and educator.

“It’s just kind of been a nightmare for the students,” Levi Sterling said. “It’s really putting them in a very difficult spot.”

Students are using the high school and the old middle school, a half mile away, for classes.

“Throughout the entire day, there’s a very, very high number of students that are moving back and forth multiple times outside, unprotected from the elements,” Sterling said.

Besides the weather, he says students are also walking near construction zones, which he considers dangerous.

The district does provide buses to shuttle students between buildings, but he says there is also a problem there.

“We’re more than a week in,” Sterling said. “The shuttles are still always running late. So, students have to choose between walking that more than half-mile distance or riding the shuttle. Either way, they end up being late.”

As an educator himself, he sees another big problem.

“The students are missing significant portions of every class period,” Sterling said. “If a kid is in class for 50 minutes and they miss 10 minutes of that class every single day. That’s a huge amount of missed time. That’s the equivalent of missing one day of instruction every single week and the district has remained completely silent.”

That is until NBC 5 started asking questions. The day we pushed the district for answers, a letter was sent to parents from the principal, acknowledging the issues and saying, in part…

“…We have added additional shuttle buses to improve transportation between the two locations,” The letter also said. “Students will not be penalized academically for delays caused by district transportation or the transition between campuses.”

Finally, some answers parents were looking for.

“At a very minimum, just some communication from them, letting us know that they are aware of the situation,” Sterling said.

Parents hope more is done, and they are kept up to date over the next two years.

Renovations are not scheduled to be completed until August of 2028.