When class starts, the milling of students in the halls slows as they reach their classrooms. Despite this, in previous years, many students could still be found wandering the halls with or without a hall pass. This year, there is an increase in hall monitoring as seen through the monitors found patrolling throughout the halls for the students without passes.
Although the halls may seem more strict, no new rules have been put in place, they are just being enforced more heavily. Dr. Bart Denbow explains the importance of keeping track of every student’s whereabouts.
“We are just trying to enforce the rules that we had in place last year. We felt like we got away from the accountability piece. It’s just making sure that anytime a student leaves a classroom, that they have a pass so that if something were to ever happen, we would know where every student is, because at the end of the day, we’re responsible for making sure that [we know] where every student is,” Denbow said.
Senior Kat Mann is aware of how vital it is to know where each student is, but also believes they may be overly strict in their adherence to the rules.
“I get why they do it. Some people might be in a different class [than they’re supposed to], and then if something were to happen, like an intruder drill or a fire, You’re going to want to know where they are. So I do think it’s important.” Mann said. “I just think it’s a little much.”
One of the problems last year was the misuse of seminar as a social hour rather than a work hour, which is one of the reasons for the stricter enforcement of hallway passes. Denbow believes the passes will help mitigate this problem.
“It really comes back to safety. More than anything, we want to make sure students are safe. That’s our number one priority every day,” Denbow said. “During seminar, [something that happened] last year was we had a lot of students that were taking advantage of the situation because we can change classes, we can move around, we can go see another teacher. We had students that were going to classrooms they didn’t need to be going [to], and that’s not the purpose of seminar. And so especially at the beginning of the year, [we are] trying to make sure everyone understands the expectations and we hold ourselves accountable for that.”
Although it’s important to have a pass, sometimes there may be circumstances that can keep students from acquiring a pass. Senior Arshley Wanambisi sympathizes with the struggle despite the understanding that passes are necessary.
“It’s inconvenient, because sometimes you may not have a hall pass, but you really do need to go to the bathroom. So are you going to send me back to class? And you don’t know the situation that I’m in?” Wanambisi said. “So I feel like it’s a little inconvenient on my side, but I get the point that it’s for safety on their side.”
There has been an adjustment period for students as they get used to the change in security level and as such, can get a bit frustrated when they are stopped in the hall.
“A lot of people go to the bathroom [during passing period] and then the bell rings, and then they try to come back and a hall monitor stops them,” Mann said. “A lot of students complain about it because it’s kind of redundant because [teachers] are not allowed to use the same pass anymore. They have to write individual passes for every person.”
Although there may be some frustration on the student’s end, these tactics have proven to be effective thus far. These hallways have been much clearer this year, according to Denbow.
“We see a lot less kids in the hallways after the bell rings. I think a lot of teachers have made the comment that they’re not seeing as many tardies in their classrooms. Kids aren’t coming in two, three, four minutes late. And so those are positive results,” Denbow said.
Wanambisi understands why these rules are being enforced, but also believes she should be trusted in knowing where she’s going without being monitored so heavily.
“It is necessary on their part to keep count of everyone and where they are, but at the same time, I’m in school to go to school. If I get on the bus every morning and come here, obviously I need to be here so I wouldn’t be walking around the hallways and not [doing anything].” Wanambisi said.
Denbow commends both the staff and the students for their vigilance in ensuring the safety of the school.
“It’s not one person’s job, we try to all work together, from the principals to the teachers to the custodians, hall monitors, security,” Denbow said. “[Students] also play a big role in the safety of the building. Our students are really great about letting us know if they see something that looks out of place or that doesn’t seem right, and really looking out for each other.”
