Recently at PLHS, digital passes have been introduced into the system of comings and goings of students. As opposed to the written passes that would be brought to a student’s classroom by an office aid, an email of the pass is now sent to both the student and the teacher of the class the student is currently in.
This implementation has caused controversy across Monarch Nation, with mixed feelings felt by many. Junior Zoe Ferracci is one student in opposition of the digital passes due to the new, more tedious way of receiving a pass, whether it’s for leaving for an appointment or going to another area of the building.
“If I want to go to the office, I don’t want to have to open my computer and fill out a form and then close it and then go,” Ferracci said. “It’s just a waste of time.”
At the beginning of the 2023-2024, a rule of no phones was also furnished, where students were to put their phones in a designated place before class started. With passes being sent via email, which is often accessed on a student’s phone, confusion has sprouted.
“I think [digital passes are] kind of dumb, we’re supposed to put our phones in the caddies but then you want us to use our phones to do stuff,” Ferracci said. “You’re having double standards here.”
Although there are some guidelines needed to be worked out in regards to students using their phones for various classroom tasks, administrators see an easy and beneficial solution towards the uncertainty around digital passes.
“[The digital pass is] sent to their email, which could be on [a student’s] chrome book,” Principal Dr. O’Hanlon said. “I think there’s lots of opportunities for students to check their email and we’re trying to help students see that they need to check their school email regularly, there’s a lot of things in [students’] school email that they are not paying attention to.”
Although doubt has been felt by many in the school building, the ultimate reason for the digital passes is to help lift weight off of the front office staff.
“I think [the front office staff was] just trying to be more efficient and get passes quickly,” O’Hanlon said. “Sometimes we get last minute emails from parents or phone calls, so this way we can shoot a quick email to the teacher.”
With the school year coming to a close, there is still uncertainty about whether the 2024-2025 school year will have this same enforcement, or it will die off a week or two into the new school year due to overall unpopularity.
