4J schools trying out new electronic hall pass technology

Eugene School District 4J teachers are testing a new way of granting hall passes. Instead of filling out a paper slip, they’re approving passes with the click of a button.

The district is piloting a new technology called Synergy eHall Pass. The system is meant to improve student safety and security, reduce class disruption, give administrators insights on patterns of hall pass use, and discourage misuse, according to administrators who presented an update to the 4J school board on Wednesday, Oct. 8.

School board members expressed mixed views. Some mentioned concerns that frequent hall pass users who might have undiagnosed mental health challenges or learning disabilities might get in trouble. Others are worried about the privacy of the data.

The district will collect feedback during the three-month pilot and report back to the board in December or January with recommendations on whether to proceed.

How the technology works

Teachers and students at Churchill, North Eugene, Sheldon and South Eugene high schools and Kelly Middle School are testing the electronic hall pass.

Students can request hall passes on their school laptops or class iPad through the same platform they use to access grades and assignments and communicate with teachers. The hall pass feature is included in the software, and there would be no additional cost for 4J to begin using it.

Teachers approve requests on their end of the technology, except for bathroom passes, which are approved automatically as long as there are not too many other students who have requested to use the same bathroom. If the bathroom has reached the maximum capacity set by school administrators, students are put in a queue.

The only districtwide rule is that students cannot get a hall pass during the first and last 10 minutes of a class period.

While there’s no way for the technology to track a student’s exact location, the system records where students say they are going, what time the pass is granted and what time the student clicks a button to end the pass, after returning from a hall excursion.

Only “essential school staff” can see the records, and they can use the data only for safety and attendance purposes.

Administrators can analyze the data if a student is frequently absent or is engaged in hallway disruptions. But administrators won’t discipline students for simply requesting hall passes, said 4J curriculum administrator Casandra Kamens.

The district has had issues in the past with students gathering in bathrooms and vaping, said 4J spokesperson Kelly McIver, and administrators are hoping the new electronic hall pass system will help prevent that. Larry Williams, assistant superintendent of instruction and access, said some students didn’t want to use certain bathrooms because of the gatherings.

“Ten different classrooms could have let two kids go, and you’d have 20 kids going to the same restroom, or they were texting each other, telling each other when to meet in their restroom,” Kamens said. “And now it limits that, and schools are able to set that limit.”

Board member concerns

Students with official plans that accommodate disabilities will continue using paper passes instead of the electronic version. 

Board member Jenny Jonak told administrators that she hopes administrators will collect student feedback. She said she’s concerned students with these individualized plans may feel less inclined to use hall passes if they feel they are treated differently.

Board member Maya Rabasa said when she told her adult son about the electronic hall pass system, he called it “junior Flock cameras,” referencing the license-plate reader cameras in Eugene that the Eugene City Council recently recommended the city manager stop using.

She said she’s especially concerned about students who don’t have mental health diagnoses and therefore don’t have official school plans for a disability, but who take frequent breaks. Rabasa worries administrators will flag these students for frequent hall pass use.

“We say that we’re not tracking students, but we are producing data, and we’re producing data that’s specific to students,” Rabasa said. “And I’m not sure I can separate the two of those things.”

Kamens said administrators will only use electronic hall pass data for disciplinary purposes if there is an incident in the hallway and administrators need to figure out who was there.

Jonak asked how long the system stores data, and how private it is. Kamens said she’s not sure how long the district keeps the data but that it’s accessible only to administrators.

Opportunities for community feedback

Sebastian Bolden, director of secondary education, and Williams said hall monitors have appreciated the technology so far. Electronic hall passes allow them to see on an application which students should be in the hallways and where they are headed without having to approach students and question them.

“If you have a student who is trying to take a break, and you’re interrupting that break, it’s kind of going against really why the student felt like they needed to step out, because now they have this person coming to them and asking them to explain why they’re out,” Willams said. “So this also supports students that need to take that break.”

So far, there have been some glitches, Bolden said, and schools are still working on getting teachers and students to use the technology consistently.

Parents and students at the schools where the system is being piloted can attend a virtual meeting in October. Information about the meeting will be sent to families. At the meeting, they can learn about the electronic hall pass pilot program, ask questions and give feedback.

Principals will also send a short survey to teachers and staff this month to collect their feedback. The district’s “climate survey” for students in November will also include questions about the electronic hall pass system. 

In December, there will be a second forum where administrators will share findings from the pilot and gather more feedback from students and parents.

District administrators said there will soon be an online feedback form available on the district’s webpage for the pilot. For now, the page recommends contacting school principals, Superintendent Miriam Mickelson or 4J Director of Safety Jennifer Bills.