APS new “hall pass system”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the teachers will have a program and logs when they leave. Or there's something in a classroom. If a student is gone for too long, it automatically alerts admin or security (hopefully the time-keeping isn't up to the teacher, as if teacher don't have enough responsibilities).

That’s what I’m talking about! This could be great.

I fell down some reddits on Minga and it has been used to discipline teachers for allowing too many kids a hall pass, too many during specific periods, allowing kids to overstay the maximum time out (it looks like some schools set a timer)... There's also some amusing TikToks from students along the lines of, "My school doesn't care if we OD, but they do care if we sh-t for more than 8 minutes." This tracks for me how employers use swipe cards, devise tracking, keyboard and screen tracking... Be careful what you wish for when it comes to monitoring software. It's not just there to monitor those crazy kids.

[Anonymous]

I fell down some reddits on Minga and it has been used to discipline teachers for allowing too many kids a hall pass, too many during specific periods, allowing kids to overstay the maximum time out (it looks like some schools set a timer)... There's also some amusing TikToks from students along the lines of, "My school doesn't care if we OD, but they do care if we sh-t for more than 8 minutes." This tracks for me how employers use swipe cards, devise tracking, keyboard and screen tracking... Be careful what you wish for when it comes to monitoring software. It's not just there to monitor those crazy kids.

Um...isn't it the teacher's job to teach a class, not monitor bathroom breaks and how many people are gone for how long? Why don't some of the extra Syphax staff come over and monitor hallways and bathrooms?

[Anonymous]

Well with Minga, Syphax staff won’t have to visit the school to monitor, they can simply pull up the data and have at it with teachers or students. Think of all the time this saves for everyone! Those hard working Syphax HR staffers will have a much more efficient time addressing concerns with teachers who don’t correctly monitor hall passes, which is good because we all know how hard working Syphax is. Now they can actually take all those vacations! Obviously there are no holes at all to this plan.

And yes clearly it appears someone is spending time monitoring kids’ bathroom time, because posters on AEM pointed out that Kenmore students are limited to a certain number of bathroom breaks a quarter. I am sure that’s working out really well for any student who can’t precisely time when they change their tampons or when they need to poop. Good stuff all around here. Truly.

[Anonymous]

I'm suspicious about anything supported by the principal who came from ACHS. I'm very much against this. I don't need my kid worrying about going to the bathroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm suspicious about anything supported by the principal who came from ACHS. I'm very much against this. I don't need my kid worrying about going to the bathroom.

You can be suspicious all you want. But APS was already piloting monitoring programs before Balas arrived.

[Anonymous]

FCPS has a similar system. Students can access the program on their school-issued devices, as can teachers. No one brings computers or laptops into the bathrooms- the devices stay in the room.

[Anonymous]

What's next... will they want to chip my middle-schooler, like a pet?

Or, will they issue badges to all the kids so they can track movement on the campuses?

[Anonymous]

That other districts use it doesn't sway me. Our students need to be less tethered to tech. If teachers are burdened in the classroom with monitoring hall passes, that needs to be examined by Spyhax. Syphax could actually be useful and figure out what the hell is going on in our schools, with staffing, and with our students. Just slapping a tech bandaid on it and calling it a day isn't going to do anything but add a layer of big brother. No solutions. Just throwing $50,000 at an app and calling it a day, which is indeed par for the course with APS.

[Anonymous]

Wow. Some people will complain about just about anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That other districts use it doesn't sway me. Our students need to be less tethered to tech. If teachers are burdened in the classroom with monitoring hall passes, that needs to be examined by Spyhax. Syphax could actually be useful and figure out what the hell is going on in our schools, with staffing, and with our students. Just slapping a tech bandaid on it and calling it a day isn't going to do anything but add a layer of big brother. No solutions. Just throwing $50,000 at an app and calling it a day, which is indeed par for the course with APS.

And districts that used it are already abandoning it. Don't burden teachers with one more "see we fixed it' fad.

[Anonymous]

Over in the AEM discussion someone mentioned that kids wouldn’t bring devices to restrooms – they would just use the device to request a hall pass.

This seems like a colossal waste of everyone’s time.

The kid needs to pee. Does he ask the teacher before requesting via device or is the teacher supposed to be monitoring yet another thing while simultaneously teaching?

Ignoring the idiocy of the above procedure, and acknowledging that any form of bathroom request likely interrupts something, then the kid heads to the restroom. We all know the issues with bringing a device. But say the AEM poster was correct and kids bring nothing, if a staff member sees them in the hall, do they check the app in real time to see if the kid actually has a pass?

I’m genuinely curious. I can see a million issues with this and none of them solve the safety issue of a non-student being in the building or the ridiculous amount of extra work needed to teach the system that Larlo and Larla shouldn’t be granted passes at the same time because they’re dating this week and might go have sex in a stairwell.

This just seems like $50k that could have been used as paper chains to create a barrier around schools with more effectiveness.

Fans of this system, what am I missing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Over in the AEM discussion someone mentioned that kids wouldn’t bring devices to restrooms – they would just use the device to request a hall pass.

This seems like a colossal waste of everyone’s time.

The kid needs to pee. Does he ask the teacher before requesting via device or is the teacher supposed to be monitoring yet another thing while simultaneously teaching?

Ignoring the idiocy of the above procedure, and acknowledging that any form of bathroom request likely interrupts something, then the kid heads to the restroom. We all know the issues with bringing a device. But say the AEM poster was correct and kids bring nothing, if a staff member sees them in the hall, do they check the app in real time to see if the kid actually has a pass?

I’m genuinely curious. I can see a million issues with this and none of them solve the safety issue of a non-student being in the building or the ridiculous amount of extra work needed to teach the system that Larlo and Larla shouldn’t be granted passes at the same time because they’re dating this week and might go have sex in a stairwell.

This just seems like $50k that could have been used as paper chains to create a barrier around schools with more effectiveness.

Fans of this system, what am I missing?

Imagine you have the same high school kid that is leaving for 10 to 15 minutes every class period. So… potentially missing about an hour of instruction every day.

This might help everyone figure that out more quickly. Please remember that high school teachers often have multiple preps, and typically about 165 students apiece, if you count advisories (and you should).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the teachers will have a program and logs when they leave. Or there's something in a classroom. If a student is gone for too long, it automatically alerts admin or security (hopefully the time-keeping isn't up to the teacher, as if teacher don't have enough responsibilities).

That’s what I’m talking about! This could be great.

I fell down some reddits on Minga and it has been used to discipline teachers for allowing too many kids a hall pass, too many during specific periods, allowing kids to overstay the maximum time out (it looks like some schools set a timer)... There's also some amusing TikToks from students along the lines of, "My school doesn't care if we OD, but they do care if we sh-t for more than 8 minutes." This tracks for me how employers use swipe cards, devise tracking, keyboard and screen tracking... Be careful what you wish for when it comes to monitoring software. It's not just there to monitor those crazy kids.

I get all my best info from kids on TikTok. I’m a teacher, and not worried about being tracked. At all. I do think we need to do something about kids roaming the halls when they shouldn’t be, and this would help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Over in the AEM discussion someone mentioned that kids wouldn’t bring devices to restrooms – they would just use the device to request a hall pass.

This seems like a colossal waste of everyone’s time.

The kid needs to pee. Does he ask the teacher before requesting via device or is the teacher supposed to be monitoring yet another thing while simultaneously teaching?

Ignoring the idiocy of the above procedure, and acknowledging that any form of bathroom request likely interrupts something, then the kid heads to the restroom. We all know the issues with bringing a device. But say the AEM poster was correct and kids bring nothing, if a staff member sees them in the hall, do they check the app in real time to see if the kid actually has a pass?

I’m genuinely curious. I can see a million issues with this and none of them solve the safety issue of a non-student being in the building or the ridiculous amount of extra work needed to teach the system that Larlo and Larla shouldn’t be granted passes at the same time because they’re dating this week and might go have sex in a stairwell.

This just seems like $50k that could have been used as paper chains to create a barrier around schools with more effectiveness.

Fans of this system, what am I missing?

You're missing what we're all missing: an explanation by APS of how the process actually works.
I'm sure it will be forthcoming as soon as they figure it out. ha!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over in the AEM discussion someone mentioned that kids wouldn’t bring devices to restrooms – they would just use the device to request a hall pass.

This seems like a colossal waste of everyone’s time.

The kid needs to pee. Does he ask the teacher before requesting via device or is the teacher supposed to be monitoring yet another thing while simultaneously teaching?

Ignoring the idiocy of the above procedure, and acknowledging that any form of bathroom request likely interrupts something, then the kid heads to the restroom. We all know the issues with bringing a device. But say the AEM poster was correct and kids bring nothing, if a staff member sees them in the hall, do they check the app in real time to see if the kid actually has a pass?

I’m genuinely curious. I can see a million issues with this and none of them solve the safety issue of a non-student being in the building or the ridiculous amount of extra work needed to teach the system that Larlo and Larla shouldn’t be granted passes at the same time because they’re dating this week and might go have sex in a stairwell.

This just seems like $50k that could have been used as paper chains to create a barrier around schools with more effectiveness.

Fans of this system, what am I missing?

Imagine you have the same high school kid that is leaving for 10 to 15 minutes every class period. So… potentially missing about an hour of instruction every day.

This might help everyone figure that out more quickly. Please remember that high school teachers often have multiple preps, and typically about 165 students apiece, if you count advisories (and you should).

I think teachers already generally know which students are frequently absent or leave class for extended periods of time. Maybe they don't know if an individual kid is leaving every class period; but they surely know how often, and for how long, from their own class. If it's someone who regularly does this, they could simply stop approving passes for these students.