Lakes Community High School students and staff have mixed reviews for new passes to leave the classroom.
Lakes administration has started the new school year with new rules in place regarding hallway usage during class. Several students feel that this addition is not needed and just adds unwanted complications.Teachers have had mixed reviews but many have been positive.
“I think it’s neat,” LCHS dean Mr. Onstad said. “You can look at the data, you can make adjustments. The learning curve was very short for students as most of their middle schools used it.”
In previous years, students had a notebook that needed to be signed for them to be able to use the restroom. This year though, there is a new electronic pass. Students must send a request to their teacher’s computer and have it accepted. If there are too many students in one location the student is trying to go to, they must wait until others leave. Once students are in the hallway, administration can see both how long the student is gone for, and who else is in the hallway at the same time. If they see patterns with who is going to the hallway at specific times, they may limit how many times the student leaves the classroom. Although the new e-hallpass may take more effort from students, it helps out school administrators greatly by giving them advanced data.
Students believe that the new passes are too time consuming for something as simple as using the restroom. Many do not like how they have to wait for a certain amount of people to leave the bathroom before they can use it.
“I prefer the student handbook,” student Brett Beerbower said. “It was easier and took less time.”
Although Beerbower may be correct at the moment, Onstad thinks it is the right move to make for the future.
“With the amount of kids in the hallway this is a way to keep track and prevent students from doing things they shouldn’t be doing,” Onstad added.
Although it may take more time, the safety and accountability of students is important and it seems like E-Hallpass is here to stay.
