This article is reprinted with permission from West Brunswick High School West Wind
For several years at West Brunswick High School, the ritual of grabbing a lanyard hall pass, writing your name on a piece of paper, or even carrying around a strange object is now long gone. Introducing the new “E pass”: a technological advancement, newly introduced to monitor student movements at West Brunswick High.
These passes were designed to keep better track of students who were out of class by limiting the number of people in the halls and/or bathrooms. These passes are also targeted towards maximizing and using instructional time more efficiently for the student and preventing unwanted wandering around the school.
“I don’t really like it,” said sophomore Evagelia Stathos. “I think it takes up time, and if you don’t have your Chromebook out already, it’s not worth the hassle to go through just to use the bathroom.”
“I see a few benefits for keeping track of students who usually skip,” said sophomore Evagelia Stathos “But, for students who just want to use the bathroom, it’s not too fair.”
When a student needs to leave the classroom, they have to request permission for an “E pass” on their Chromebook using the app “Pass.” The pass has access to see where you’re departing from, which teacher, and where your destination is. A time limit is immediately set, counting how long you are gone until you have returned back from the appointed destination to turn your timer off.
“I think there’s good and bad,” said Health Science teacher Jenny Rohr. “I like the organization of knowing who is out of the classroom and where they are going. But there are some flaws, such as dead Chromebooks, taking the time to get a Chromebook out, and if a student has an urgent emergency.”
Even though the E Pass can sometimes be a hassle for students and teachers, administration can really benefit from it, which ends up trickling down a positive effect. The program allows admin to keep better track of how many students are in the halls or bathrooms at once, reducing opportunities for disruption and keeping a mostly accurate record of who is missing class time and for what.
“I think it’s more convenient with the E Pass for teachers but probably not as much for students,” said Rohr.
