During winter break, a strip of formerly student-available parking spots were painted red and are now restricted for parking.

The new restricted areas, which come at a time when many students already have trouble finding parking, run along the side of the football field and the Carlisle building.

According to Assistant Principal Saum Zargar, the spots were painted due to safety concerns from students, staff and community members who were having trouble passing parked cars, and being forced to drive against traffic on the wrong side of the road.

“The reason the red zone was installed is because the road is a traffic lane which leads to San Andreas, and it is not a drop off zone,” Zargar said. “So having people park in that area really blocks traffic flowing through.”

Zargar said that the decision was made jointly by an administrative team and the school’s facility managers.

This removal of more student parking follows the decision earlier this year to paint reserved spots for nearly every staff member and to allow sophomore students to receive parking permits.

Senior John Van Liere said that he was disappointed by what he saw as the school’s lack of concern for student parking.

“It’s pretty messed up,” Van Liere said. “I used to park my car there, and now I can’t.”

Senior Lauren Foehr said she had seen negative outcomes from the decreased student parking, including students not going to class to avoid parking illegally and receiving a ticket.

Likewise, Foehr, a former member of the parking committee, which was charged with easing Redwood’s parking issues, said that the school did not take into account the students’ complaints.

“I was on the parking committee and [the administration] really didn’t do anything that the students talked about,” Foehr said. “Changing that to red makes the parking even worse, as did adding the staff spots [earlier this year].”

Zargar acknowledged students’ concerns on decreasing parking, but added that it is not a new issue.

“The current response is the sooner you come to campus, the better chance you’ll have of finding a parking spot,” Zargar said.