Correlating to the start of construction on NC’s theater, the school asked all students and some staff to park in the lower student parking lot starting on January 5.

“Only students with a current semester parking permit are allowed to park in the lower lot ONLY. Beginning Friday, January 6 any car not parked in their designated student parking and cars parked without a permit WILL be ticketed,” NC’s website said.

Moving students to the new parking lot cut down significantly on the approximately 280 available parking spaces. The school sold approximately 175 parking passes for the second semester, and adding in students who park without a pass, the race for a parking pass and spot echoed through the student body.

“We only have enough parking if you get here early. It is quite annoying because my spot was taken — it used to be where the staff is now — but I feel like overall we will enjoy the new facilities that they are building so it will be worth it,” senior Taylor Melton said.

The school also moved staff parking spots from the front of the school and the lot in front of the theater to the same parking lot, causing spillover between teachers and students.

“I guess I don’t know why we’re not asking other people around us that have parking space if we can use it. We need to ticket the students who are parking without a pass because people skirting the system and not paying is what is causing the issue,” drama teacher Candice Corcoran said.

Construction on the theater officially began over the weekend of January 7, with the construction company tearing down the front wall of the theater. The company plans to replace the theater with a newer building, as well as to build another gym and new tennis courts by December 2017.