The days of using paper passes to get around the halls of Milton High School are being shredded into oblivion.

Starting this year, securly.com, a digital hall pass system, has been used in place of paper passes during advisory. It is a continuation of the pilot program from last year, which has introduced a digital pass system to our school. Last year only a handful of teachers were chosen to use the system, however now it is being used across all classrooms during advisory period.

MHS is following the trend of many other schools in the Boston area that have made the switch to electronic passes. These electronic systems allow schools to collect data on students, tracking their location, how often they leave the classroom, and for how long. Mrs. Jessica Jarboe, Milton High School’s technology specialist, stated, “Schools are big, we want students to be safe. Knowing where they are going and coming from.”

Jarboe adds that securly.com allows the administration to do many things that paper passes couldn’t. She said, “This way we can approve it, see how often it is being used, we are able to see now what is going on all day”.

The system gives teachers and administrators alike the information needed to keep track of students' productivity throughout the day. Teachers are now aware if students leave their classes continuously and for long periods of time. This allows them to make decisions that will ensure the best use of the student's time during the day, such as denying a pass due to excessive use or abuse of the system.

Advisory was chosen as a way to introduce the new system to the entire school. According to Jarboe: “Advisory is meant for students to move around the building and connect with their teachers.” Advisory gives the exposure needed to introduce the school to the schedule and habits of the students and teachers.

Teachers have positively reacted to the new system. Ms. White, the culinary teacher, said: “SecurlyPass helps to keep students accountable for their time and helps teachers identify unproductive behaviors like extended time out of the classroom and overuse of passes. Often these students have identified performance issues. If we can draw the students' attention to the correlation, it could help with their performance.” It gives teachers more power to better do their jobs as educators.

However, students seem to be indifferent to the new system as long as they get the pass. Senior Harrison Hinckle said, “I don’t really care about the new passes. It doesn’t matter to me.”

With these positive responses, it would be no surprise that the electronic pass system is here to stay at Milton High.