Digital hall passes for schools, sometimes referred to as electronic or ‘e’ hall passes, are growing in popularity.
What is a ‘digital‘ hall pass? These systems replace the paper hall pass method by using software and/or scanning equipment to issue passes for students.
But the question is – why aren’t the old paper hall passes good enough? And what makes the difference between a mediocre digital hall pass, and the best – one that adds value to a school?
Goodbye Paper Passes
Paper hall passes, or even simply a verbal dismal from a teacher, have been used in schools for decades. They are basic dismissal system that has merits – simplicity and familiarity.
It is simple to write out a pass, and because it’s been done for so many years, it’s very easy to follow.
But, there are shortcomings.
As concerns like vaping, bullying, meetups, and class disruptions increase, schools need tools that enable incident prevention, efficiency, and accountability, ultimately leading to a safer and more productive school environment.
For these reasons, a digital hall pass is becoming an accountability and security essential, not just a ‘nice-to-have.’ But do you really need a hall pass app? Let’s break down these reasons further.
Vaping, Bullying, Meetups
A CDC study from 2023-2024 shared that over 1.6 million students reported vaping. And while this is a decrease from previous years, it is clearly still a big problem.
Where is vaping likely to occur in a school? The bathroom, locker rooms – places where there wouldn’t be supervision. One article reporting on the issue called school bathrooms ‘ground zero’ for vaping. Added to this, e-cigarettes are also much harder to detect.
These locations are be trouble spots for other activity are well. Bullying and meetups can occur during school instructional time outside of class in the bathrooms, as well as in hallways and stairwells. Students cannot be monitored everywhere. So for many schools, the best solutions are preventative measures – and this can include a way to limit the amount of time a student can be out with a hall pass, and the amount of students who can be out with a pass at once. A digital hall pass can accomplish this.
In addition, digital hall passes can allow for lists of students who cannot be out with a pass at the same time. This prevents meetups of kids who are likely to goof off together, as well as more concerning issues like bullying and vaping or other substance abuse.
Frequent Flyers
As absences have increased and made way for ‘chronic absenteeism’ in schools, missed class time is a huge concern.
And even when students are in school, they may not be in class or on time to class. Extended trips to the bathroom or other locations, and tardies, mean more lost minutes.
While schools don’t want to police students for bathroom breaks or trips to the nurse, they do want to ensure students aren’t just wandering around. And, some students may wander more than others. Schools need a way to hold these ‘frequent flyers’ accountable for lost minutes.
A digital hall pass does just that – something that a paper pass or verbal dismissal cannot do. With a digital tool, schools can have visible proof of a students’ missed class time. This could be used during parent-teacher conferences or meetings with counselors, to help intervene and determine how to support that student.
Increased Security
A digital hall pass can help increase security. While it is not the end-all-be-all solution, and schools certainly need to take an abundance of security measures, a good hall pass system is an effective tool that can help schools identify who is in the hallways, at a glance.
A classroom teacher, principal, or hall monitor can look up data and quickly see how many kids are out of class, where they are going, and how long they have been out.
This kind of data coupled with the conflict prevention mentioned earlier, makes for safer halls.
What Makes a Great Digital Hall Pass System?
So, let’s talk about good versus great, what determines the best digital hall pass for your school. A great digital hall pass would do more than simply digitize teacher-created paper hall passes. Instead of just replacing an existing system, it should add value, including addressing the concerns mentioned above.
This means great digital hall pass software should:
- Enable location limits
- Have conflict prevent so that the system won’t allow certain students to be out with a pass at the same time
- Set limits for how many passes certain students can take out – ‘frequent flyers’
- Have reporting options to show exactly how many minutes an individual student has been out of class over a range of dates
- Have an easy-to-access live dashboard of everyone out with a pass
- Have a quick way to stop passes from being created
- Be easy to onboard, easy to use, and easy to access
Gold-Standard Features
So you’ve considered the top concerns a digital hall pass app can address. It’s not about adding a new software tool. Simply put, there are things paper hall passes cannot solve. And while you may be able to trust many students by giving them a simple verbal dismissal, many students need more parameters, and schools are working hard to create safer environments, and have better systems of accountability.
But are the issues above the only things a digital hall pass should have? Below is a list of features that you will find in Student Pass – the digital hall pass by Enriching Students®. We combine our Flex Scheduler with an effective and easy-to-use hall pass system, under one log in. These features are must-haves. To see them for yourself, schedule a demo with us and see how it could support student movement at your school.