Students have recently been bothered by a new policy on hall passes that requires them to be searched if they are found outside of class without a pass. Students taken for a search will be escorted to the 100’s or to the 500’s.
This policy is meant to alleviate the concerns regarding an increase in prohibited activities such as vaping, walking around the halls, and vandalizing school property like the bathroom stalls. The policy also aims to ensure that students are being supervised by an adult at all times when they are out of class for safety.
For most students, the hall passes weren’t a big problem until the new policy came into play. Now, students are facing a battle between understanding the need for the policy and seeing it as an unnecessary step for Hamilton’s security.
Some students believe that the policy will not directly help stop the issue at school, and instead, it will be intrusive for many. Paulina Hernandez, a freshman in SAS, feels that staff members escorting students to be searched isn’t the best use of school time.
“That time could be used to send them back to class,” she said.
Bailey Drake, a junior in BIT, agreed. She said that often, staff are insistent on searching her instead of asking her to head back to class, and that the process isn’t working for her.
“They try to send me to the dean in room 100, then [they try to call home], and that’s doing too much,” she said. “Sometimes I just want to go outside and breathe.”
CAA junior, Kaniya White, said that she has also experienced staff members trying to take her to be searched in another room. She says that the process the school has as of now is flawed.
“It’s not that serious if I’m using [the hall pass] to go to the bathroom,” said Kaniya. “If you take longer than they want you to, they send someone after you and that’s a lot.”
Although some students feel negatively towards the new policy, some students think that it’s necessary to provide extra measures so that people are safe, and both students and staff members can feel at ease on campus.
Logan Peck, a 9th grader in Humanities, said, “It’s necessary since any person could be roaming around campus.”
School staff have emphasized in communications to students that the policy is not meant to create more issues and everyone on campus is encouraged to follow the policies in order to maintain a smooth school year. The Federalist was unable to locate an administrative representative for further comments.
Jayla McAdams contributed to reporting for this article.
