It’s virtually impossible not to see how a digital hall pass can transform your school for the better. Automating and streamlining the request and approval process is just the beginning. The visibility into and control of student movement you gain from a digital hall pass is where the real magic happens.
Seeing how your school can benefit from a digital pass system is the easy part. Selecting the right digital hall pass may feel like a daunting task, though.
Read on to understand the essential functionality you need to have, as well as the bonus features that school principals and administrators find most valuable.
10 Must-have Features to Look for in a Digital Hall Pass
A digital hall pass is an electronic system that manages and tracks student movements outside the classroom during school hours. It replaces the traditional paper pass system, offering greater control, visibility, and data for school staff. When choosing a digital hall pass system, consider the following key features:
1. Real-time Visibility
A digital hall pass system should provide a live dashboard and real-time updates. It should make it easy to know which students are using passes at any given time, as well as identify students who are using passes beyond their expiration time.
2. Ease of Use
A digital pass system should make it easy for both students to request passes, and for teachers to approve them. A digital hall pass that can be requested by a student directly from their device, or generated from a kiosk for self check-in and check-out, minimizes classroom disruption and administrative burden. The teacher should also be able to quickly and easily approve or deny the request from their device so they don’t waste valuable instruction time.
3. Efficient Emergency Response
In an emergency, it’s crucial to account for all students quickly. A digital pass system should improve student safety by offering rapid access to information about which students are not in their assigned class because they are using hall passes, and what locations they’re visiting. This improves overall efficiency, saving vital time accounting for everyone in the event of a fire, lockdown, or other emergency.
4. Flexible & Customizable Controls
A digital pass system should provide a range of helpful features that are customizable for your needs. By prioritizing a digital hall pass with robust, customizable features, you’ll gain an invaluable tool that aligns with your school’s needs today and can grow with you in the future.
At a minimum, you want a system that gives you the flexibility to:
- Assign all students a daily pass limit
- Set different limits per grade level
- Restrict individual student passes for disciplinary reasons
- Limit passes to certain locations, such as the bathroom
- Block hall pass usage for all students
5. Contact Control
To keep known troublemakers apart and combat issues like bullying, vaping, and vandalism, a digital pass system should let you set contact control restrictions that prohibit specific students from using hall passes simultaneously. By limiting their opportunities to meet up, you also limit students’ ability to make poor decisions and engage in risky or undesirable behaviors.
6. Robust Reporting
You should be able to run custom reports from your digital pass system so you can identify trends in pass usage and their correlation to individual or group behavior. You can identify “frequent flyers” who have a habit of abusing hall passes and limit their usage. Should you need to defend your actions to a student and their family, you can pull an individual student report that documents their usage history as evidence for your decision.
7. Tardy Management
Did you know that some digital hall passes can simplify tracking and management of tardies? By implementing a system that formalizes tardy management, schools typically see improvements in student attendance and punctuality.
Look for a digital hall pass system that lets you:
- Record late-to-class and late-to-school events
- Assign specific disciplinary actions for tardies
- Automate consequences, like detention appointments
8. Appointment Scheduling
Not all digital hall passes support appointment scheduling. But when you choose one that does, you make it much easier for teachers to schedule appointments with students, and for students to request them. If it also sends reminders prior to scheduled appointments, that’s all the better.
9. Visitor Management
A digital pass system that also provides integrated visitor management can help you keep your campus and students safer. In a single tool, you can gain complete visibility of movement on your campus, including screening visitors and confirming students are being picked up by authorized adults only.
With integrated visitor management, you’re able to:
- Automate the visitor check-in and student pick-up process
- Ensure that students are being released only to approved adults
- Run automatic background screens and validate identities
- Silently alert security staff of unwelcome or potentially dangerous visitors
10. Implementation and Training
Implementing a new system can be challenging. Ensure that the digital hall pass system you choose comes with comprehensive training and support. This support should include both technical assistance and best practices for using the system effectively in your school setting.
Other Things to Consider When Choosing a Digital Hall Pass
Before selecting a digital hall pass system, you’ll also want to vet potential partners’ ability to address other considerations, including:
Data Privacy and Security
Given the sensitive nature of student data, it’s imperative to choose a digital hall pass system that meets or exceeds strict data privacy and security standards. The system should be compliant with relevant laws and regulations, such as FERPA in the United States, to ensure your students’ information is protected.
Integration with Existing Systems
To maximize efficiency, the digital hall pass system should seamlessly integrate with your school’s existing technology platforms, such as student information systems and learning management systems. This integration ensures a smooth workflow and reduces the learning curve for staff and students.
K-12 Education Experience
Some technology products are better at solving a customer’s problems than others. If the team behind a digital hall pass doesn’t really understand the needs of a school principal or administrator, the product will only be so helpful.
On the other hand, when you choose a digital hall pass that’s backed by a team of K-12 educators who have walked in your shoes, you can feel confident that the product will have the features you want and help drive the outcomes you seek.
Return on Investment (ROI)
While budget constraints are a reality for all schools, the cost of a digital hall pass is small compared to the improvements it can generate. Thousands of middle- and high-school principals tell stories of “turning things around” in their schools by increasing attendance and time in class, and simultaneously reducing vaping, vandalism, and bullying after implementing a digital hall pass.
At Wredling Middle School, Principal Tim Loversky has seen hall pass usage go down by 30-40% since implementing Securly Pass, which means students are spending more time in the classroom and engaged in learning.
Similarly, Lincoln Public Schools implemented Securly Pass across their district, and their school leaders are seeing significant improvements. Casey Fries, the Principal of Lincoln East High School serving roughly 2,000 students, shares that suspensions have decreased by 64% and course failures have gone down 23% since the beginning of the 2023-24 school year.
Make the Best Decision for Your School
Choosing the right digital hall pass system is a significant decision that can impact your school’s operational efficiency and student safety. You’ll want to assess your school’s specific needs, and engage with teachers, staff, and even students to gather input on what features are most critical for your school’s environment.
One last thing: before making a final decision about a digital hall pass, be sure to request a demo or free trial period. This hands-on experience will give you a clearer understanding of how the system works and how it can benefit your school.
To trial Securly Pass, the digital hall pass preferred by most school principals, schedule your personalized, no-obligation demo here.
