New pass system leverages technology to bring structure to chaos of hallway pass zone

Out with the old, in with the new. The days of dingy, yellow, paper passes will soon fade into the ashbin of history. West will soon be implementing a “fresh,” digital hall pass system. 

For many, this shift will come as a drastic change. Assistant Principal Aaron Herm appreciates how the new program will make use of technology to alleviate hallway crowding while ensuring greater structure to the educational day.

“There will be an app on students’ Chromebooks that they will use to fill out a hall pass, rather than the old yellow paper passes,” he said. 

Similar to previous years of hall passes, teachers can either approve or deny student requests. However, teachers will now have a visual list of all students on the “no-pass list.” Before, there was little to no teacher-to-teacher communication about the unauthorized roaming of the halls. 

“The teacher will then either approve or deny the digital pass, and the student will take one of the lanyards in the classroom to wear in the halls as a visual cue they’ve followed the correct process to get a pass,” Herm said.

Meandering through the halls can be potentially damaging to educational integrity. To teachers and administrators, students constantly leaving class to go to the bathroom, or to get a drink, can take away from learning time. Ultimately, the goal of the digital pass is for the benefit of the student body. Learning doesn’t happen in the bathroom, and Herm hopes that this addition will help curb this issue so as to not “disrupt their own learning.”

“Ultimately, we want to improve student outcomes,” he said. “Learning happens in the classroom, and when students aren’t present for it, they’re missing out and falling behind.”

Furthermore, with the process, teachers are now able to see whether or not students have been to the bathroom or requested a pass in previous classes. Before this system, teachers had no way of knowing the status of students. Through this feature, and a limited number of passes allotted to students, ‘frequent flyers’ will be in for a rude awakening as their hourly trips to ‘use the bathroom’ may be coming to a sudden end.  

“With paper passes, students had the freedom to request permission to leave their classrooms frequently, sometimes even on an hourly basis, without any of their teachers knowing and no effective way to prevent it,” Herm said.

Abuse of the previous method was relatively easy, according to Herm. 

“For students who consistently abuse pass privileges or are frequently found in unauthorized areas, the digital system allows us to implement additional restrictions tailored to their specific behavior,” he said.

The new set-up for passes is not just for those who have abused the previous system. Students with medical issues can also be accommodated through the new paradigm, as that information will now be entered into the system. There no longer will be a need for a doctor’s note or anything else that can easily be lost. Students are now able to freely leave if they qualify for those accommodations. 

“For students who have medical conditions that might require increased bathroom access, for example, we can individually accommodate their needs,” Herm said.

Not surprisingly, students feel differently about the purpose and how it will actually work in practice. As the ones who will be directly affected by the change, there are some significant misgivings in Wildcat Nation. Much of this anxiety stems from a lack of information.

For junior Kate Ruby, this change may not work in the real hustle and bustle of the school day with the accompanying hectic flow. 

“I think that it’s going to be really ineffective,” she said. “And I personally wasn’t given a reason why we need to use passes through a Chromebook.”

Others feel it could possibly become tedious and inconvenient to constantly have to pull out a Chromebook everytime a student wants to go to the bathroom. Ruby sees the need to confirm digitally that a student should or should not be in the hallways as a superfluous aspect of the new system. 

“I think that it’s also unnecessary and an inconvenience for both student and teacher, as it will just take away from class time for learning and such,” she said. “I think that the lanyards are enough to be able to tell if people are skipping or not.”

Junior Kamaira Chapin agrees that the new system seems unnecessary.

“Well even in certain classes like choir and gym, it’s inconvenient. Especially when we aren’t supposed to have our Chromebooks out in class,” she said. “I don’t understand the use of these digital hall passes.”

Choir teacher Bethany Meyer, along with the rest of West’s staff, was first alerted of the alteration during collaboration meetings back in late August.

“We were on a Google Meet with a trainer from the new pass systems company,” she said. “He walked us through the system and teachers were able to ask questions on a Google form for our admin team to answer in real-time.” 

Unlike the traditional classrooms that populate the school, M13, Meyer noted, is not awarded any sense of privacy through her specific teaching style. Regardless, there are hopes to make this unprecedented way of doing things work in the classroom. 

“I do think we will find a way to make the new pass system work in non-traditional spaces,” she said “ I plan on asking my students for their input on how we can successfully implement the system in choir and I have some ideas. Unfortunately, in my space, there is no privacy. I am in the front of the room for the whole class and every single student sees everyone coming in and out of the room.”

Similarly, Spanish teacher Alyssa Gauthier recognized the wrinkles that may need to be ironed out, but ultimately thinks this constitutes a positive change. 

“As a teacher, I’m personally excited for the new pass system,” she said. “ I think that there will be some kinks that need to be worked out but once we get through that I think it’ll be really nice.” 

In contrast to Meyer’s perspective, Gauthier’s classroom is more conventional, and will probably prove easier to maneuver the particulars of the new system. 

“For me, it won't be difficult to have the students access their Chromebooks since we’re always using them anyway, but I'm hoping that if it’s an inconvenience for others, that it’s worth the benefits,” she said.

Meyer sees no issue with working through any kinks with the technological shift. 

“As a staff member, I want to implement the new system with fidelity,” she said. “I know in the beginning it will be an adjustment, and I know people might not be super excited about it.”

As with any transition, mindset will be the key to success, according to Meyer.

“ I think it will be a positive change for our school. I hope we can keep an open mind and adapt,” she said.

By Anika Flores

Published October 2 2023

Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue I