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, which the traditional slips of paper often leave 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 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 couple of 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.

Senior Cannon Davis has used the e-hall pass system multiple times and has found it to be easy.

“It’s a lot better for all the kids who’d run away outside of class to do whatever they want,” Davis said. “You only see one or two students leave the entire class rather than 15.”

Seniors Randy Flint and Chloe McCormick said they’ve seen fewer students leave class this year, but some still use passes to leave the classroom.

“People go to the bathroom to get on their phones since we’re not allowed to use them this year,” McCormick said.

McCormick said she’s concerned about what would happen to the e-hall passes if the internet goes down. But Flint said the new system gives teachers more control in their classrooms.

“It feels like there are fewer people leaving and teachers have more control over the students with the passes,” Flint said.