By Mariana Pliego-Gutierrez and Kimberly Perez

The new Minga pass system is online and working

Now paper passes are a thing of the past like writing a paper on a typewriter or using white out. This is a technological society and PHS is now using Minga to help keep track of the many students who go to PHS.

Many students have downloaded the app on their phone, making it an easy task to create and use a pass to the bathroom or wherever. Like everything else, it was a little bit of a pain the first time you do it, then it becomes easy. Students have already made this app second nature. They do it automatically.

There are a couple things to keep in mind. Remember you only get five minutes on a pass. No they do not hunt you down if you take five minutes and thirty seconds, but you should make note that there is a time limit. You may have noticed that there is a post of your lunch period. That is there to ensure that you go to the correct lunch period. We all want multiple lunch periods, or to have a period when our friends have lunch, but we have things to do and you need to go to your assigned lunch period. This even means going into the lunchroom for a snack at the vending machines.

So basically, all the rules are the same, it is just that there is a system being installed that we will not be able to get around the rules anymore. Minga is keeping track of when you come late to school. Remember “being late is unheard of.” Now there is an electronic log of where you are and where you are supposed to be.

So far, the system seems to be working flawlessly. Students make a pass on their device, get permission from a teacher, and away they go.

While students grumble about downloading the new app or having to do it on their Chromebook, the reality is that students have taken to this new system and are getting on board.

If PHS is going to be one of the best districts in New Jersey, students will need to learn as much as possible during the year. This can only be done if they are in class as much as possible and not be out in the bathroom or roaming the halls or just hanging out with friends in multiple lunch periods.

Now with Minga, the school has the ability to make students do what they are supposed to do. We should all be on board with this and just go to class, do our best, so we can be the best.

Comments on the new Minga pass system

The following are responses by students, teachers and administrators concerning the new Minga digital pass system:

• These new passes are not much different than the old paper ones.
• It’s a mess getting started, but once you are set up it isn’t so bad.
• They’re alright, it’s just weird that you can create a pass without telling your teacher. I think this might be a problem in the future.
• I am glad this is anonymous because I think that these new passes will be a great way to track students who always find a way to be out of class.
• Honestly, so far it has no effect whatsoever. You still got kids making passes and still be out in the halls for more than five minutes. Plus, I don’t think five minutes are enough. If a bathroom is closed there needs to be a way to allow students an extra couple minutes to find the next one that is opened.
• It is too much of a rush to go for just five minutes. There are times that all stalls are being used and we have to go to a different floor to be able to use the bathroom.
• They’re ok but it’s weird that you can create a pass and it will let you without permission from a staff member.
• I feel like the hallways are better since its implementation.
  The new system is keeping students out of the halls and allows staff and administrators to see who is supposed to be in lunch and when. This will ensure that the students are where they need to be.
• I don’t have an opinion on the passes because it doesn’t affect me since I don’t hang out in the hallways. I don’t think the new passes are way better because you can make a hall pass without the teacher permission. I hope it keeps kids in class, where they are supposed to be.
• I don’t like them. I feel like it’s more work to do and it’s a waste of time to create them and then leave the class and come back on time.
• Seems like it’s good, but I don’t understand the system that much.
• Terrible, but I like to visit my friends in the halls.
• To be honest I don’t know.
• I would definitely say there is more control over the students now in the school.
• I don’t like them, the issues are just the same.
• I think that if students are not going to be in their classes, they will find a way to beat the system. Maybe this is different, but I don’t see what it is yet.
• I feel like there wasn’t any change. It’s basically the same thing, but I don’t try to get away with stuff.
  I think it’s innovative and could work. It just needs to be executed correctly.
• I think the bathroom passes are good I just wish it was more than five minutes. Some classes are far away from the bathroom.
• The only difference I’ve seen is less people in the bathrooms now, which I guess is the point.
• I feel as though it does help a little, but barely. The real difference is that security has stepped up their game and usher kids back to class.
• As a teacher, it is easier to have students make a pass electronically on their own and then get a quick little approval, which does not interrupt the flow of the lesson. I know that this system will only get better as we work all the kinks out.
• I think it’s a good way to keep students out the halls because the security can check if they should be out or not. It adds to the safety of the school.
• I think that the biggest push for students is that they have a timer, because it means they know they only have a certain amount of time before they are missed back at class.
• I think the new passes are reasonable but also ridiculous because if someone cannot download the app, how can they use the bathroom? Also, there is a time limit on the pass, and by the time they get to the bathroom, they have not a minute and 30 seconds left. That is not fair! I think it is good as far as tracking kids and making sure they are doing what they are supposed to, but I just don’t think this policy is the best idea. Overall, I think the only positive thing is that it has prevented many people from packing up the bathrooms and hallways like before.

Editor’s note: It appears from these responses that students are on board with this new system. Once we all got the hang of it, the system is fast and easy. Actually, many say that once they downloaded the pass system it is even easier than making a regular paper pass. Like other things as PHS, we are flexible and so this will be second nature to us come September. You can tell next year’s freshmen that we remember what it was like when you had to make out a paper pass and sign out in a book. What a pain. Welcome this new technology that will make our lives easier as well as keep students in class more. That is how we are going to be the best.

Student Survey: How has Minga affected the number of students in the halls during class?