A Better Hall Pass System

An Improved Hall Pass System Through Small Changes

The new hall pass system can be highly improved through small changes that can be implemented by the school. The spread of germs through one pass in each classroom can be reduced by installing a hook in every bathroom near the door. Students will not have to bring the pass into the stall with them and get it dirty and exposed to tons of germs that comes with people using the restroom. Enforcing sign out sheets or actively monitoring the use of hall passes will actually make students do those things because if no one says anything then they will keep ignoring it. This can also allow for more than one pass in each classroom because having only one pass greatly restricts the students and those who have to wait to go to the bathroom. As a bonus, teachers should also be allowed to choose whether they want to have their own passes or not. Some liked having passes that relate to their personalities or what they teach so they shouldn't be limited to the ones the school is forcing everyone to use.

Multiple issues with the new hall pass system.

After the school returned from quarantine, a number of students showed a lack of attendance in class by skipping classes and leaving the room for a long period of time. As a result, beginning this year, the school has implemented a new hall pass system to prevent this issue. However, this new system is not as effective as the school made it out to be. We recognize this situation and want to present alternatives to improve this system.

We conducted a survey using a Google form on what students and teachers thought about the current hall pass system and here are the results...

184 total responses

Of these 184 responses, 172 were students.

• 92.4%  of students answered that a teacher has kept them from leaving the room because one person was already out.

• 53.5% of students feel uncomfortable knowing a lanyard is worn by other students in the bathroom stall.

• 34.3% of students had to wait over 5 minutes for a hall pass to come back very often.

• 88.4% of students have left class without a hall pass.

• 67.4% of students have left class without signing out.

Some quotes from students:

• "To my experience, they kinda suck. They don't really serve a purpose, because no one ever asks for your hall pass. At the same time, they stop people from being able to use the bathroom or going to talk to a teacher/counselor because someone else is out. I'm a senior. Why am I being policed on when I can use the bathroom? It's also gross as hell. I've had to use hall passes that are wet. With mysterious substances. Or just dirty looking. It's not a sanitary practice."

• "I’m unaware if the hall passes are even washed. I’ve seen some on the grounds inside stalls of the bathroom."

• "Reinforcement of hall passes are inconsistent. Some teachers care some don’t so it should be one or another."

• "...It’s not needed- we were fine without them last year."

• "I get that the school is trying to increase attendance (and maybe it's also a safety thing?), but in general it feels really controlling and disrespectful. I think that if they have to implement a policy like this, they should at least respect us enough to explain why it's necessary."

• "I heavily dislike it, i almost ended up wetting my pants one day in biology because someone was skipping class with the hall pass."

• "I think 2 or 3 hall passed should be given to each class because there are times when a student leaves to go to their locker and takes the pass but someone else has to go to the restroom and has to wait almost 10 minutes"

• "theres no point to them really. a waste of money and stressful for teachers to monitor. the sign out system works better because it shows who's out at the moment. also... [the passes] get lost a LOT."

• "...[some teachers] will make you wait like 10-15 minutes for somebody to come back with the hall pass, and by the time they get back multiple people have to go now and it's like a race to get to the hall pass first."

• "It sucks, having to depend on others to go to the restroom is a really bad system."

• "The hall passes allow teachers to be unsympathetic to our needs because it's a rule that they can."

 12 responses were from teachers

• 33.3% of teachers keep students from going to the bathroom/leaving because their only hall pass is already out of the room, and 41.7% keep students from leaving in some cases.

• 75% of teachers, on a scale of 1-5, 5 being very important, ranked a 4 or 5 on how important it is to them for a student to sign out and take the pass before leaving.

Some quotes from teachers:

• "I wish other teachers would consistently use theirs."

• "Students lost the passes, so I just ask them to sign out and not worry about carrying a germ-ridden pass to and from the bathroom."

• "I'm glad for the system, especially the universal pass. Too many students took advantage of restroom breaks to be gone for 20, 30 or even 40 minutes from class last year. It was not easy to track or prove. With this system, that has been curtailed. Having the universal hall pass, it's easier to spot students who have permission to be out of class. I wish we had an extended time hall pass for students who want to visit their counselors or the school nurse."

• "The hall passes can be a useful system, but only so long as it is enforced by administrators outside of the classroom and the passes are regularly returned. I will never tell a student that they cannot use the bathroom at all during a period just because the pass is gone, so when returning passes is not enforced outside of the classroom it becomes either a micromanaging task for teachers (which is untenable) or a failed system."

What we are proposing:

Install a hook into each bathroom

• An area in the bathroom dedicated to all passes will decrease the spread of germs

• The hook will be near the front door so students don't take it into the stall with them

Enforce sign out sheets and passes

• Someone can be in charge of checking whether students have a pass or not while in the halls

• This will make students take the passes more because they know someone is actively checking

Have more than one pass

• Classes having only one pass strictly limits how many students can leave at one time

• Some teachers are strict about this limit so having more than one pass will let more than one students go in cases of emergencies

Let teachers choose their passes

• Some teachers like having passes that they designed or got themselves instead of the neon yellow ones the school implemented

• This will allow teachers to show their creativity if they'd like instead of limiting it

Trade-offs

• Some students may still ignore the hall passes and sign out sheets

• Hall pass enforcers might miss some students and continue to let them go if they don't have a hall pass

Benefits

• Students won't have to wait long for one student to come back with the hall pass to go to the bathroom

• There will be a decrease in the spread of germs because students won't have to bring the pass into the stall with them

• Students will not be treated like elementary school students but instead like adults

• Teachers will be allowed to have their own passes to their liking. Some like to have passes that relate to what they teach or their personalities