Digital Access: Department chairs toured Indian Hills Middle school on April 24 as the propose the idea of bringing e-passes to East

All department chairs toured Indian Hills Middle School on April 24 to hear a presentation led by Indian Hills staff about electronic passes, with a possibility of bringing the program to East during the 2024-25 school year. 

The e-passes are a system that could replace the yellow laminated paper passes, according to Indian Hills students, and will require students to fill out an online form before leaving the classroom to go to the bathroom, visit another teacher or go to the vending machines. The form will send a notification to the teacher who can then approve it manually or have the form pre-programmed to approve all e-pass requests.

The program tracks how long students are in the hallway and sets restrictions as to which students can be in the hallway at the same time, according to math teacher and department chair Jennifer Horn.

“It’s more of trying to keep kids in class versus out of class,” Horn said. “[Teachers] can have a report with a paragraph that shows this is what’s happening, and that’s why they’re not doing well [in class], because they’re not in my class.”

In addition to keeping students accountable for their time spent in the hallway, e-passes can limit the number of passes given to students each week. Sophomore Evelyn Holmes believes that this will prevent students from being able to practice skills that will be used in future jobs.

“In a lot of workplaces, especially during independent work time, professionals have the ability to take restroom breaks when needed, especially in office environments,” Holmes said. “I know we are not adults, yet, but I feel like it’s important for students to learn how to speak up for themselves and conduct themselves in a way that allows them to use the facilities responsibly.”

Horn and Holmes are concerned about how the passes will disrupt class time — requiring students to get out their computers in class and teachers to stop their lessons to approve a pass. Freshman Gray Snyder experienced the e-passes at Indian Hills during seventh and eighth grade and believes that the passes were a distraction to his learning.

“It was just annoying and a hassle because teachers usually don’t have their computers up so then people would have to raise their hand to be like, ‘Excuse me, can you approve my pass?’ which kind of defeats the whole point of the system,” Snyder said. 

Despite concerns over the possibility of e-passes being brought to East from Indian Hills, Horn believes that the new program is simply an upgraded yellow pass.

“It’s really not any different than a yellow pass,” Horn said. “It’s just an electronic pass that keeps track of how long you’re out. It’s used more for interventions than punishment which is what I think kids need to understand.”