One substantial change that took place with the new school year was the system teachers and students use to get a hallway pass. Lake Park has switched from grabbing a hall pass and leaving to using the website Minga. This new website has many more capabilities but will be primarily used as an improved way to keep track of hall passes, according to East Campus Principal Dr. Sean Potts.
“It’s really just an online platform to streamline our pass procedures while also being able to better manage how many students are in the halls at one time, who’s in the halls, and how frequently they’re getting passes,” Dr. Potts said.
Both East and West campuses have implemented this system.
This new technology makes hall passes easier to use for students, teachers, and other staff alike to keep track of passes throughout the day. Minga also makes it easier to see patterns appear over time. For example, if two students are attempting to meet up through bathroom passes, administration can better pick up on this and limit the amount of passes these students get. It is important to note however, that despite there being a time limit on hall passes, students will not be penalized for exceeding it.
“It’s not super strict. You don’t get a detention because you were back five seconds too late,” West Campus Principal Dr. Alexia Ellett said. “That’s not something we’re doing.”
Instead, this time limit will allow teachers to open up conversations with students who are consistently going over the time limit and missing class time.
Another reason Lake Park has switched to Minga was because lanyards being used as hall passes had caused many issues with passes getting switched and lost. With Minga, Lake Park can move away from physical passes to solely using technology. This can solve multiple problems, including the hygiene problem of shared lanyards as bathroom passes.
“Last year we had students losing passes, and also the unsanitary nature of having these lanyards that you’re carrying to the restroom,” Dr. Ellett said. “With Minga, you don’t have to have your phone or technology in the hallway, which we’ve been strict about leaving behind.”
More important than lanyards, however, Minga is also used as a safety measure. If there is ever a fire or other emergency situations, teachers and administration know how many kids would be in the halls as well as who. This is yet another measure to ensure students are safe in Lake Park.
Despite all this, some students find it to be an inconvenience. They have to get out their chromebooks, log on, along with actually creating the pass on Minga. For the administration, the minor inconvenience does not outweigh the value of the new system.
Overall, Minga is being used to improve the hallway pass system at Lake Park.
“Our ultimate goal with Minga, the whole why behind it, was to manage student traffic in the hallways, enhance safety and security, and gather real data,” Dr. Potts said.
