Starting just weeks before the end of the school year, the high school introduced a new, online hall pass that lets the district see when students are in the hallways and at what time. This comes with a lot of controversy that has many students sharing their strong opinions about it. This new hall pass, named the “smart pass” makes students request a trip to wherever they need to go, if they need to go to another room, the teacher from that room first has to confirm that they are either allowed or denied to enter their PLT. This new pass system allows for a more easily managed hall pass system to keep students from leaving class for an extended period of time without the teachers knowing that they are gone.
In late April, the high school set aside a few days dividing all the students by grade to have meetings in the library to describe the new up-and-coming smart pass that was starting the next day.
“I think the school is just trying to keep the school and the hallways safe during times that the teachers are teaching,” junior Sawyer Wahlenmyer said.
This new system isn’t the first of its kind at Freedom as the high school previously had to scan a QR code that was in every classroom in the building, requiring students to fill out information before they left the classroom, but after almost three years, the school decided to change the system. The new system could be used by students through either the app on their phones or the website. After opening the app or website, students are required to create a scheduled route. Students must request to go to a certain destination. The teacher would then have to go in and accept the trip and the student would then be allowed to go. As soon as the pass was accepted by a teacher, a timer would begin. The student would have to be back in class before the timer was up.
Freedom is not the only school that requires their students to use this kind of hall pass. Other schools, like Mohawk, also use the smart pass to help keep track of students.
“I think the reason for the new pass is there were a lot of students that were severely taking advantage of the time they had in class,” junior Jason Mengel said.
When students use this pass the office and faculty are able to see who is supposed to be in the hallway at that time. So they can see if there is someone in the hallway that doesn’t have permission. This new system allows for faculty and teachers to have better control over who is in the hallways. As with any new system, there will likely be an adjustment period for students and faculty alike to become acquainted with the new system.