New Digital Hall Passes Face Criticism: How is it Really?

By: Joesi Soto 

Heading to the restroom, advisory, or even the counselors, has always been a simple note saying “John to Mr. Smith - Mrs. Doe.”  Now that the new digital hall passes system, 5Star, has been implemented for about a month now, students have been in an uproar. Students are upset with the short time limits, teachers are upset with the system and advisory passes, and are collectively just confused. Although it seems that the general public isn’t feeling the most positive about 5-Star, we at Trojan Torch are determined to figure out why students dislike it so much, and what the admins have to say about it? 

In a survey regarding students’ opinions on 5Star, posted on the Trojan Torch Instagram, we asked student opinions before and after 5Star had been implemented. Along with a free response on how 5Star could be improved, 66.7% of students hated it with initial hearing, and 19% disliked it. After its implementation, 71.4% hated it and 23.8% disliked the system. With the free response, students were inclined to leave notes with advice/stories about 5-Star. 

One Jenks student, who had the choice to stay anonymous, tells a story of their friend who was having complications and was away from her computer during class. 

“We were doing an activity in class that required our backpacks (with our chromebooks) to be on the other side of the class. So it took her a good 5 mins to grab her and get the pass and at that point she had bled through her pants,” said an anonymous Jenks student.

People who have struggled the most with 5-Star are women. Though the 5 minutes for restrooms may seem like enough time, it’s barely enough time to walk to a bathroom that isn’t full (or musty), use the restroom, change your pad, wash your hands, and walk back to class. 

In order to feel like this time isn’t an attack to women, raising the time limit by just a few minutes will help to ensure that girls feel comfortable when in need of a restroom.

Bathroom passes starting the timer

Amy Karnes is the admin over the 5-Star system. She has been a principal at Jenks for almost 3 years now and is the admin over of the English department. When coming into this interview, I was determined to figure out why now? Why in general? 

Mrs. Karnes is aware of the backlash and is observing. While interviewing her, she was taking notes to bring up in her meetings with the other principals and testing the 5-Star program with me. While this is just the first year of 5-Star, there are already so many ideas that will positively affect the school. During the process of deciding which website to use for E-Passes, principals visited Bixby to learn more about 5-Star. 

“At homecoming this year, I’m gonna sit there with my 5-Star and kinda parallel that and see how easy it is to check in through 5-Star,” said Mrs. Karnes. 

When it comes to wait times for things like football check in with Activity Passes and Homecoming lines, the lines are astronomically long and annoying. With the 5-Star app, there are QR codes and number codes to fill out, and students are able to check in with those codes. There are multiple beneficial cheats to the system that will cut time down for so many things. There's point systems, check-ins for school events like parties, games, and clubs, and so many other things that will benefit our school.

There are pros and cons to this new system. Communication and understanding problems are the lead of the discourse and dislike of this new system with the general public. Now that we are starting to understand more and more about 5-Star, people are starting to accept it more. 

Similar to what anonymous student two stated in our free response in our survey,

“It’s pointless for those of us who don’t do “sneaky stuff” in the bathrooms. I understand it can be useful to ensure people are doing what they’re supposed to, but a majority of the time people are doing what they need to be: using the bathroom,” said anonymous student. 

Though the 5-Star system may seem challenging to navigate or deal with, it is still in its trial phase, and everyone is learning how to use it to its full potential. There is so much potential for Jenks and its students to flourish from this system, but it is important to recognize that change is confusing and difficult, and there is still room for improvement. With continuous feedback and adjustments, 5-Star could become a valuable tool and be accepted by students, or at least tolerated. 

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