Administrators at Hayes are trying to decrease students’ tendency to skip class by modifying the hall pass policy. Assistant Principal Rex Reeder said minor adjustments were made to the hall pass policy, in hopes to make Hayes a safer place.
Last year, many students would commonly use the drop and go tactic when it came to leaving class in order to use the restroom, which is where the student would drop off their belongings and go to the bathroom without the teacher’s knowledge, hoping to return before the bell rings. This would often cause concern for teachers as they would not know where their student went, especially with their belongings still being left inside of the classroom.
Reeder said there have been minor but important changes to the policy. “There is not a huge change in the hall pass this year,” Reeder said. “But one thing we tried at the end of last year was to see if we could only have one type of pass [that would] keep everything consistent and keep everybody safe.”
Reeder is hoping to keep the same pink colored pass throughout every classroom, in order to not cause any confusion with what type of pass the students may have.
Towards the end of the 2021-2022 school year, Hayes had a rough time maintaining a calm and peaceful environment within the hallways, Reeder said. His hope overall is to create a safer environment this year.
Reeder said that many students feel uncomfortable walking through the halls, or even using the restroom, due to the increase of safety hazards within. He said he is hoping to make the hallway a place where students can communicate to teachers within the hallways, and create a safer place for students.
“No matter what, we just want different places where students can come and communicate and feel like they can be involved or talk about any conflict,” Reeder said.
Overall, the new additions to the hall pass will make the hallways a safer, cleaner area throughout the day. These changes could create the change that the staff of Hayes is looking for.