Nixa High School students and teachers have traded in paper hall passes for electronic ones this school year.

The new e-hall system, Securly Pass, is meant to cut down on students wandering the halls and increase student safety by giving teachers more oversight of student movement. The program allows teachers to see when and where students leave class, track when students arrive at another location that they’ve been sent to, monitor how many passes the students have had each day and even block students from leaving classes — traditional paper passes often left these details untracked.

To fill out an e-hall pass, students open Securly Pass on their Chromebooks, where their teacher can create a pass with their destination. Then, their teacher approves the pass, starting a timer and allowing the student to leave. When the student gets back, the teacher or student ends the timer.

Speech and debate teacher Jay Williamson has set up his e-hall system so students can create the passes themselves.

“If it’s a bathroom trip, they can create that, and I don’t have to spend a lot of time in class running to my computer monitor to initiate a pass or end a pass,” Williamson said.

Teachers were briefed on the change a few days before school started. Since then, teachers have been given additional information through frequently asked questions, provided by the admin. Though Williamson is still learning how to adjust the system to his liking, he has found it to be more convenient than handwritten passes.

“This is easier, especially if the students are initiating it on their own,” Williamson said.