This year at Winthrop High School has come with some changes to what many of us are used to. Many of those changes were introduced at least seven different times to every student in the first few days of the school year. One in particular that everyone was made aware of was the addition of hall passes to every classroom. Hall passes are something many would typically associate with middle school and even elementary school but they’ve made their way up to Winthrop High School. 

The hall passes for WHS students are attached to lanyards which pass through the hands of many throughout the course of a school day. Students are required to take the pass with them if they leave the classroom at any point during class. Each classroom has both a hall pass and a nurse pass. This system allows for teachers to keep track of who is out of the room at a given time. 

There have been many mixed opinions regarding the new hall passes here at Winthrop High School. To get a feel for the different opinions and views of WHS, I caught up with a few individuals, teachers and students to see what they had to say about the new addition of hall passes to the classroom.

Here are some responses from some students and staff at Winthrop High School. 

“The addition of  hall passes to the rules regarding leaving the room is interesting. As someone who is almost a legal adult it does feel weird to have to carry a lanyard with me everywhere I go, But I do understand the importance behind them in making sure people do not skip class. I look forward to seeing additional school policies to combat people skipping class by spending their time in the bathroom, for the hall pass system does not fix this issue”.  

       – Delia Parco (Senior)

“From my point of view as a teacher at WHS, the addition of hall passes is a welcome change to our daily routines. It’s hard to hold students accountable and to fully trust that they are being completely honest with you when you ask them where they are supposed to be or where they are coming from while in the halls. While students may not like the extra thing to keep track of, it’s definitely going to have an effect on some of the more negative consequences of allowing students to not be held accountable for being in the hall.

       -Mr. Tarantino (Physics Teacher and all-around cool dude – written and signed by Mr.T)

“Personally, I think that hall passes are a good idea to make sure that students are in class and their teachers know where they are. But, on the other hand, seeing that they are going into school bathrooms with diseases and bacteria, so overall I think that maybe they should find a better system that is less likely to spread bacteria because it is really disgusting not knowing where that hall pass has been.    – Casey Petersen (Senior)

What are your thoughts on the sudden importance in carrying a hall pass wherever you go? Do you think hall passes will continue to roam the school hallways or will they lay forgotten and untouched with nowhere to go in a few months time?