SmartPasses enhance student safety
Northview High School's new replacement for bathroom passes
Photo by Allen Liu & Sonya Pandya
Sonya Pandya, Editor-In-Chief & Allen Liu, Copy Editor
Upon returning to school for the second semester, students at Northview High School were promptly introduced to SmartPass, a novel replacement for existing physical passes. This change caused surprise and confusion among students, as some felt it added unnecessary buffers to the traditional pass system. Senior Shreya Venkatesh recounts her initial reaction.
"I was a little bit shocked at first because I didn't think there was that big of an issue [of] people leaving class," Venkatesh said. "But I found it somewhat understandable."
SmartPass is an online addition to physical passes, allowing teachers and staff to track where a student is going and how long they're gone. To leave a classroom, students must open Classlink and request a pass through the SmartPass website, a function specifically implemented to prevent students from leaving class for long periods of time.
"We have some kids that are using the pass seven periods a day," Northview principal Martin Neuhaus said. "When somebody's hogging the pass, that means other people can't access it, right? So this is a little bit about equity. Everybody has equal access to the pass, and it allows us to also make sure kids are in class."
Despite initial pushback, attendance, and safety records found in other Fulton County (FCS) schools, such as Johns Creek High School, Chattahoochee High School, and Centennial High School, post-SmartPass prompted Neuhaus to collaborate with staff and administrators to put the SmartPass into effect.
"Through different administrative meetings, they were able to learn about ways that other schools address issues with attendance, achievement, and behavior," Counselor Savannah Wilkerson said. "After having a couple [of] conversations with different schools, learning about this program and how data-driven it is, they decided to try [it out.]"
SmartPass not only acts as a supplement for bathroom passes, but also allows access to the front office, clinic, media center, counseling offices, and other locations around the school. Each bathroom pass has a five-minute time limit attached to it, so teachers can ensure that students are leaving for appropriate amounts of time and returning in due time as well. Wilkerson views the ability to monitor students consistently as critical for the counseling department's operations in student well-being.
"I think that using a new application like this is going to help us make more informed decisions," Wilkerson said. "From our department's perspective, now that we can track how often students are outside of their class, we can learn a lot about how [we] can support them."
For students, SmartPass seems like a bureaucratic practice that only further complicates a process that should be simple. Instead of simply raising their hand to use the bathroom, they now have to open their laptops, open Classlink, and request a pass.
"[In chorus class], our backpacks are at the back of the room, so when we're rehearsing, it's not really ideal for us to just get up and go to our backpacks to get our laptop," Venkatesh said.
However, Neuhaus emphasizes the necessity of SmartPass on an administrative level. These digital passes can help monitor students and any behavioral problems, streamlining the process for referrals. SmartPass also keeps students in class, as they are only given two bathroom passes a day.
"Students don't necessarily like it, but ultimately, it keeps [them] in class, and so that's all [at] the end of the day," Neuhaus said. "That's what I'm responsible for. How are we learning, and are we safe? No one is safe when they're wandering the hallway for 30 minutes, right?"
Crucially, the two-pass rule has many stipulations and exceptions, as teachers have final discretion in allowing students to leave the classroom. The SmartPass is also projected to see logistical improvements in the near future that will address many of the concerns brought up by the student body.
"There might need to be more passes [available], or there might need to be a different way to assure that students are going to the correct bathroom that they are assigned to, or to figure out how to tell when a student has left [the counselor’s] office," Wilkerson said.
The advent of SmartPass is only a symptom of several other safety measures disseminated by FCS schools such as upgraded security cameras with "appearance search", Centegix Crisis Alert System badges, and temporary metal detectors. Further security decisions will impact Northview in the coming years, including moving away from the usage of personal devices during instructional time and installing sensors on every exterior door.
"[At Northview,] Fulton County took away all of the door locks and added a sensor [to each door]," Neuhaus said. "[All staff members] now have badges with a chip in it, so if you have the right badge, you can access the right door, and lock or unlock them with a certain key."
Students should expect to see many safety-related implementations to Northview in the future, as SmartPass is not the last. While several new advancements in safety regulation are being implemented into Northview, it is also crucial for students to help support the well-being of their peers and the general safety of the school. If you or anyone around you needs to report an issue, please communicate with a trusted adult or access the district's S.H.A.R.E. tip line.
