GROTON, Conn. – This year, Fitch students and teachers alike are getting used to the new pass system, which has replaced the old paper passes of past years with digital ones.
At the start of the school year, Fitch has announced the plan to use the online pass system known as Securly. Faculty were trained on the system in the days leading up to the first day of school, and students were trained during their CTL before the system was made the only method on Sept. 18. Securly was implemented to keep track of student’s locations and more easily time how long a student is out of class. The system allows teachers to create digital passes for bathroom use, appointments, and other designated places around the school. Recently, teachers have been able to use the Auto Pass feature, which allows students to write and submit their own passes without asking for teacher approval. Despite these changes, opinions remain divided amongst students.
“Whenever teachers allow us to use Auto Pass it’s a pretty fast and easy system to use,” said Dominick Robinson, a sophomore. “Usually, [if Auto Pass is not on], we have to literally stop class, it slows down [the lesson].
Dominick also noted that loading times can sometimes be an issue.
“My Chromebook doesn’t load very fast and takes like five minutes just to actually [submit a pass].”
Other students noted additional pros and cons to the system.
“I don’t always have to carry a pass around the hallways,” said Isabella Collins-Osiecki, a sophomore. “[What I don’t like is that] I’m timed and I have to pull out a computer and do all of that stuff.”
Teachers working to embrace the new process have also seen benefits, citing the creation of a safe environment and interruptions in class time respectively.
“I like the new pass system in terms of safety,” said Dr. Rebecca Rabinsky-Ankrom, better known to most as Dr. RA, an ASL teacher at Fitch. “Staff and [administration] are aware of students’ whereabouts, which creates a safer school environment for all.”
Dr. RA also praised the recent shift to Auto Pass, which allows students to write their own passes in Securly without teacher involvement.
“Prior to the Auto Pass, I would have to stop mid teaching to open Securly and approve a pending pass or create one for a student,” she said. “In the beginning, Securly took up more class time than I would like [and] often stopped the flow of class. However, the new Auto Pass has been working well.”
Since Securly will be in place going forward, many are comparing it to the old pass system which had unique passes for the bathroom, CTL, and appointments. Like the system itself, opinions seem to be divided
The last major change to the pass system was implemented in the second semester of 2023-2024, where students visiting teachers during CTL would have to scan a QR code and fill out a Google Form explaining their reason for visiting. With Securly in place and the new cell phone policy being enforced, that process is no longer being used.
