SmartPass is a new change to our school this year. It is a system that allows students to write up passes for themselves to leave the classroom. It can be used from the app or the website. A student chooses what place they are planning to go, and then must get their teacher’s approval.

This new procedure is in place so that the administration can see what students are out of class during a certain time. Coach Douglas and Dr. White explained during each class meeting what the new system is and what its purpose is. The Smart Pass system is being implemented with the hope it will eliminate the number of students vandalizing the school as well as having too many students outside of class.

“I think the pass system is invasive. It’s contradictory to the message the school is trying to push. You can’t micromanage your students while simultaneously saying you want to curate them to become independent adults. If you treat them with equal respect, you’ll receive it back. The reason it’s being implemented in the first place is that the administration doesn’t trust us. At least not with the decency they’re perceiving it to be,” Kila Yoyo, junior, says when asked how she feels about the new pass system.

“First of all, it takes more time for teachers to create the pass, and students who don’t have a phone are at a disadvantage. also, it gives you a time limit to pee. The highest time it goes to is 7 minutes when the shortest average time a teacher expects of you to be in the bathroom is 10. It’s ridiculous. The pass is not practical at all. Students are still going to skip class and an electronic pass isn’t going to fix the problem,” Elandrea Baker says when asked how she feels about the new system.

Because the new pass system is so new to our school there isn’t any evidence on if it works or not.

The website to access the new pass system is https://smartpass.app/app/