The new system was put in place this school year due to concerns about the excessive numbers of students hanging around in hallways during class time, according to one member of staff
A school sparked outrage amongst pupils after bringing in a new e-pass that limits how often they can use the bathroom.
The arrival of the new digital system has raised concerns among some Arrowhead High School students, who don’t like that the system limits them to using the pass three times a day, or seven times a week.
Additionally, the system also imposes a limit on the number of students who can check out passes simultaneously, creating an additional issue for those wanting bathroom access.
Student J.P. Moen questioned the decision at the school board’s 10th September meeting, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
He argued: “So, say you went to the bathroom three times a day, and then the next day you went to the bathroom three times a day; you only have one more bathroom usage for the rest of the week. So therefore, you can’t even go to the bathroom during school.”
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He further noted that it could cause a major problem in a case where a student is ill, adding: “If you had to run to the bathroom, you could be getting intercepted by a hallway monitor, and you could technically be getting punished for just having an emergency.”
Despite the backlash, the Arrowhead School’s superintendent, Conrad Farner, defended the ePass system in a statement, saying it ‘ensures safety, maximises student learning, encourages responsibility and minimises inappropriate behaviour’.
He added that the district provides accommodations to students who need extra passes or additional time.
In a statement, Farner said that the school had an issue with students ‘wandering’ the hallways during class time, which ‘were consuming an incredible amount of administrative and SRO time’.
After an advisory team researched solutions that other high schools had ‘successfully implemented’, a team of teachers and administrators concluded that ‘the ePass system would be beneficial for Arrowhead High School’.
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“We are trying to prevent unsafe, risky behaviour… and it is working.” he said, adding that another benefit of the system allows them to determine ‘where students are at in the event of an emergency or worst-case situation’.
Farner continued by saying that nothing has changed for ‘the vast majority of students who never/rarely ask to leave class to use the facilities’, with the only impact being that students who would asked to frequently leave class for reasons, such as ‘walk the halls’ or ‘meet up with friends’, are ‘no longer going to be able to do so’.
“The fact that it makes everyone safer, results in fewer classroom interruptions and provides useful data with minimal financial investment makes it an even more obvious choice,” he added.
As it stands, a student may not request more than one pass within a block class and no more than 40 total students can be out of all classes at one time.
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Furthermore, a student can request no more than three passes per day and no more than seven passes per week. And, unless pre-planned or approved, a pass will not be issued if three other students from any particular class are already out of the room.
The pass also limits the number of students in a restroom to the number of stalls in that particular restroom.
Passes are preset to allow seven minutes for bathroom use and 10 minutes to go to another teacher’s classroom. School staff can increase or decrease the time on passes, as needed. The system does not have any built-in consequences for students who go over the time limit; it’s up to the teacher to follow up with the student.
Farner noted that the school is still learning what works best and could adjust its limits as needed.