Various forms of hall passes have been around for decades at OH, although no source could say when they were first truly established. OH staff cannot stress enough the importance of these passes. Students? Not so much.
OH Dean Susan Johnson said, “I honestly couldn’t say when hall passes were first established here at OH, this being my third year here, [but] I can say that the [kind of printed, paper] orange passes did start when I first got here.”
Before the building got strict on the type and color of hall passes, it appeared that administration, deans, and teachers only cared if students had some kind of a pass. Hall passes could have been anything from a stuffed animal to a wooden block.
“When I was younger, when we had to go to the bathroom, it was the same concept [as it is today], but instead of an orange slip it was a piece of wood,” Deans Assistant Joseph De Cicco said.
According to several sources, students took advantage of the privilege and, due to safety purposes, a change was implemented to start using a specific pass for students.
“At least half a dozen times a week I catch students skipping class, but other times teachers forget to give passes,” De Cicco said.
For the safety of a large building like OH, it is important to know where students are coming from, where they are going, and how long they are out of the classroom.
“I have never skipped a class,” junior Cesar Garcia said. “There have been times where I’ve been caught in the hall without a pass, but I never got a consequence because most of the hall monitors are cool.”
Usually, if students are in the hall without a pass on accident, they are required to return to class. Students take advantage of passes by writing them themselves, or by deciding to skip class, there are bigger consequences.
“If students are being disruptive, roaming the halls, or just skipping, they have to go to the dean’s office,” De Cicco said. “Sometimes [the punishment] could be an in-school suspension or out-of-school suspension depending on how many times they have skipped class.”
In these past few years, OH has cracked down on policy after experiencing more problems with students in the hall.
“When I was a student, we had hall passes, but my school was not as strict,” Johnson said. “Then again, I didn’t mind them because I was never really in the halls.”
Compared to now, the last generations of high school students were not as tempted to skip class as this generation appears to be; they are currently being called the “Lost Generation.”
“I don’t think passes are necessary, but if they are, then the teachers should give an object to a student and that would be that pass,” Garcia said, noting that there are literally hundreds of little orange passes written at OH each day.
Even though it may not make sense to some students or it may feel unnecessary, these rules are important to keep our school safe and will continue to be enforced.
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Hi I'm Chayse! I'm a Senior at OHS and this is my first year on the 42Fifty team. When I'm not at school, I participate in activities such as BIONIC, Commotion, SOTC, and many various Honor Societies! You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
