The admin team at Fauquier High School (FHS) has decided, amidst controversy, to make the transition from purple paper passes to electronic passes. These new passes are expected to be in full use by the start of the new year. This has caused negative feedback from students and mixed reviews from teachers.
Principal Dr. David Ferguson has had past experience with electronic passes and found them to have a positive impact on the school environment. The passes will require students to have their Chromebooks with them throughout the whole day. There were several reasons for this change. “You can look up a child’s name and see why they weren’t in class at this time, and if they have an electronic pass you know where they were,” said administrator, Robert Glascock. Each pass a student or teacher creates is kept in a history page on the Securly Pass website. Teachers are able to look up specific students, see their electronic pass history and address any problems. Each pass has a timestamp on it so that staff members are able to see how long each pass has been active. Teachers aren’t notorious for checking the purple passes, but it is necessary to know where students are when not in the classroom. Senior Bennett Hernadez can attest to this, saying, “I think that it should be required to have some sort of documentation of where a student is.” Although these new electronic passes are more secure than the purple passes, they require a training course for the staff.
The staff has already had to watch a couple of videos and read a few documents on how these new passes work. Additionally, they are going to be required to spend at least one day of full training for the new system. Teachers have not been informed on how to train students on this website. As of now, students are not excited about the passes. “[I do not think that electronic passes are a good idea] because oftentimes students don’t have a school Chromebook on them so they probably can’t access the pass software they need. I think paper passes would be better,” Hernandez stated. However, the administration remains confident in its decision. “I think it will have a positive impact because you don’t have to worry about the paper pass. You can just punch it in [the computer] and the teacher can monitor where a student is and you don’t have counterfeit passes,” Glascock explained.
However, teachers are not sure what to expect from these new passes. “I think it could be positive and encourage students to utilize the restroom for its intended purpose. I can’t fully say [that electronic passes are a good idea] but I am willing to give it a shot,” said English teacher Shauna Shiff.
The new program will begin next semester and the school is hopeful that it will run strong. While these new passes will be an adjustment, our school’s admin team feels confident in a positive outcome. While these passes will require students to have the school Chromebooks with them, the admin team thinks that the electronic passes will eliminate the problems that the paper passes could not.
