As an increasing number of sophomores obtain their licenses, many have struggled to cope with the deficiency in parking spots brought on by the closure of sophomore row.

 

Sophomore row, the nickname given to the stretch of former street parking along Doherty Drive, was made into a red zone this year in order to support municipal renovations.

The row has traditionally provided a haven for newly-licensed sophomores, to whom school parking permits are denied.

Sophomores who are experiencing the effects of a reduced supply of parking are clashing with administration over the issue of sneaking into Redwood’s parking lots.

According to Assistant Principal LaSandra White, a first time offense will result in a warning, a second, some sort of school service hours, and a third will cause the student to be ineligible for a permit the following school year.

“If we catch them once, usually we don’t see them again,” said Campus Supervisor Paul Schloesser. “We also usually forward on the name and the information for the vehicle to their assistant principal.”

According to a recent Bark survey, 28 percent of sophomores have parked in the Redwood lots, despite not having a permit. Yet of those 28 percent, 73 percent use the parking lots once a week or less. And despite administration’s efforts to curb the prohibited parking, 45 percent of sophomores who use the lot say they have never gotten caught. 

However, while the administration has threatened to withhold permits next year for the sophomores, according to White, such a punishment has yet to be inflicted.

Many sophomores who have suffered from the parking punishments, such as sophomore Maya McDonnell, are resentful towards the rules.

“Apparently, every spot in the lot has somebody with a designated parking permit, but I feel like every day there’s so much space in the lot,” McDonnell said. “I feel like it doesn’t cause that much harm to have some of that space be free parking. It’s just inconvenient that we can’t park there. We need to get to school just like everybody else does and just because we’re younger, we should still be able to have some sort of solution to where we can park.”

McDonnell said that she used to park in Redwood’s back lot, but after getting a warning, she has since reshuffled her mornings in order to get to school early enough to find street parking.

Sophomore Grace Ahlbom, on the other hand, understands the importance of the parking rule despite being caught twice for violating it.

“When I’m an upperclassman, I’m not going to want sophomores parking in my spots,” Ahlbom said. “I just do it because I’m too lazy to walk. I can deal with it, but it’s annoying.”

Schloesser sympathizes with the plight of the permit-less sophomores, but he still believes in respecting the policy and tradition of the rules.

“I do feel bad that they have to walk, and when they get their car, they can’t park on campus. I feel their pain, I do,” Schloesser said. “But right now, it’s almost like a rite of passage. It’s been handed down year after year, and I don’t see it changing any time soon.”

Schloesser also noted that parking spots are designated first to teachers, and then all the remaining spots are given to juniors and seniors.

He said that at the end of the day, there are so few spots left after being taken by juniors and seniors that it would be impossible to give any more than a few spots to sophomores.