Haddonfield board hears proposal to pilot digital hall-pass system in middle school

The Haddonfield School District on Tuesday heard a presentation about a digital hall-pass system for the middle school and was asked to approve a short trial at the end of the school year.

Administrators said the system—described in the meeting as “Smartpass”—replaces paper or physical passes and lets teachers cap how many students can leave a classroom at once, reduce shared-touch points in restrooms and provide a digital queue so students enter in controlled increments. "It just replaces your traditional hall pass and it addresses several issues that students will face in the middle school," the presenter said.

Supporters told the board the system could limit large group gatherings in bathrooms at certain class times and improve accountability by recording pass usage. In describing the rationale, a board member said the system could reduce hygiene risks from many students touching the same physical pass.

Board members pressed administrators on privacy and emergency use. One member asked whether the system "tracks" students beyond pass requests; administrators said the system only records pass issuance and scheduling for allowed time windows and does not provide continuous location tracking. They acknowledged students may try to work around the system and said the pilot is intended to reveal practical issues before broader deployment.

Administrators requested permission to run the trial and said the cost would be roughly $1,600 for the year and was already included in the presenting principal’s budget for the current school year. The board did not take a formal vote during the meeting; administrators said they would return with a planned trial timeline and any additional privacy safeguards.

The trial request is intended to run at the end of the school year; staff said they would report back with pilot results and recommendations before any districtwide adoption decision.