Sitting in her class, she is fourth in the queue to use the bathroom. Her frustration grows as she knows students ahead of her are misusing the pass, some strolling the halls, others meeting with friends. Senior Audrey Campbell is faced with various challenges that come along with the new digital hall pass system.
As the school year begins, the administration has implemented changes to current policies. Most notable of the changes is the new electronic hall passes. Issues with previous hall pass systems prompted the administrators to take action by creating a new hall pass plan.
“The old system created a lot of traffic and noise in the hallway during instructional time, and made it harder for students to learn and concentrate,” Assistant Principal Amanda Pfeiffer said. “The new system has parameters and structure that help protect instructional time and keep hallways quiet and clear.”
The new hall pass system utilizes the Enriching Students platform, previously used for managing the Flexible Instructional Time (FIT) sign-ups. This platform now also allows students to request a hallway pass, which will be sent to their teacher to be approved.
“The new hall passes are actually more work for me, I have to stop what I’m doing and go approve a pass,” history teacher Charles Stampley said. “We had a small minority of kids who were abusing passes last year. This year, I’ve already noticed a lot fewer kids in the halls.”
While some students find the new system is beneficial, others have negative opinions, stating it’s embarrassing and restricting.
“It aggravates me when we have to wait so long to go to the restroom. It should be a basic human right,” senior Audrey Campbell said. “It’s kind of embarrassing when you’re like, teacher
, can you approve my hall pass? I should be able to go to the bathroom when I please.”
With the hall pass system being strictly digital, it limits the accessibility for students, creating conflict with dead or forgotten devices. As with all technology, inevitable glitches, and connectivity issues can add frustration to the process.
“If I have to pee, I have to get on my Chromebook every time, if my Chromebook’s dead, I have to get a charger, then I have to disrupt the class,” Campbell said. “It’s really disrupting the teachers’ learning when I have to call them in the middle of their lecture to approve my bathroom pass.”
In addition to the hall pass system, the administration is working to enforce previously established rules. One of those is the enforcement of clubs only meeting on Fridays. While this has been in place for a few years, it was not heavily enforced until this year, leading club owners to be frustrated.
“My club used to be on Wednesdays, and we had over 60 members. What’s frustrating about it moving to Friday is that the majority of those members will not be able to show up because they are also involved in other clubs,” senior Country Kickers president Kynnadi Bryan said. “Our leaders who help run the club are also involved in other clubs, and so they won’t be able to show up on Fridays as well.”
Bryan reached out to Principal Mark Robinson, requesting to host clubs on Wednesday or Thursday, however this request was not granted.
“Being a member of a club it’s now impossible for me to be a part of other clubs during school because there is no time,” Bryan said. “To be a well rounded student it is important to join multiple clubs, which makes this new rule so much more frustrating.”
In addition to these rules, there have been changes made to the tardy system. While the Bowie tardy policy isn’t new, administration states it has been adjusted to respond to the increase in tardiness to classes that staff had noticed. When students receive five tardies in a single class, it now results in a lunch detention and a discipline referral, and 10 will result in an in-school suspension.
“It’s not just that 90% or higher attendance is required by state law, it’s also about students being in class and learning what they need to graduate,” Pfeiffer said. “We want students to focus on doing their best in classes and working hard and having one less thing to worry about so they can focus on what really matters.”
From updated pass procedure to club meeting times, there are many changes in rules this year across Bowie. These new policies have left students and staff adjusting to these changes, some see these steps as unnecessary and others being thrilled by the positive outcomes.
“I think the new system helps with order, but I just wish it was a little easier on the student side too,” Campbell said. “I get the reason for all the new rules, I hope the school keeps listening to how students feel and makes adjustments along the way.”
