The new E-hall pass system has recently been introduced to the Bellevue Public Schools district for the second semester of the 2023-2024 school year. The question has been floating around if the E-pass is good or bad. Students are constantly asking each other and teachers what their opinions are on the new pass system.

My take is that the E-hall passes are bad because these passes are interrupting class time way more than they need to, they are not changing anything for the better, and they cost way too much money.

According to E-HallPass.com, “Costs for the E-Hallpass are $3 per student, with a one-time implementation fee of $1,000,” which means the district spent nearly $5,000 on the E-hall passes.

We could be using this money on other way more useful improvements and opportunities for our school, such as students, staff, clubs, sports, etc. For example, the district could have used the money spent on E-Passes on better lunch options for East’s students that have free and reduced lunch.

Another way the district could have used the money is for more programs for their students such as more clubs, sports teams, or engaging field trips.

E-hall passes are also not changing hardly anything for the better. If anything, it has made leaving the classroom become a hassle for both the students having to sign out and wait for the teacher to approve their pass. The teachers who have to stop what they’re teaching, or stop helping another student, just to approve a pass.

According to Securly Pass, an “educational software company”, E-hall passes are “A digital hall pass that lets you specify the approved location and set a pass expiration to help you limit students’ opportunities to engage in risky or undesirable behaviors.”

East may think the e-passes are helping things and stopping students from participating in “undesirable behaviors,” but in all reality, it’s not helping anything. It’s just making students more sneaky about it. During passing periods, after, and before school there still leaves a ton of room for students to participate in whatever they were participating in before we got this system. For example, using drugs, skipping class, and vaping.

Students also find themselves getting into trouble because of the new E-hall passes. This is taking even more time out of the students’ learning experience. After all, school is strictly for learning and education. Getting in trouble for using the bathroom when it was simply what the student was trying to do is not fair.

Female students especially need to use the bathroom more often for emergencies regarding their menstrual cycle. That sometimes requires more time than what the pass timer provides, and more than three passes a day.

It has been said that if students have too many yellow or red passes they will get in trouble and depending on the circumstance any student might be in, it could take much longer than the time given.

 E-hall passes interrupt class time. Teachers have to walk all the way over to their computers and press accept to enable students to use the restroom. Not to mention students still have to ask for them to approve their pass just in case teachers did not see the notification, taking even more time to approve or deny a student.

In the past, all they had to do was say “Go ahead” or “Wait until the student who is out comes back.”

As a simple solution, we can use the lanyards East gives to each classroom to use the bathroom. Faculty can identify whether or not a student is supposed to be in the bathroom by the brightly colored lanyards assigned to each bathroom.

This is a no-cost solution and different teachers at East can impose their own rules about using the bathroom or getting water.