High school students will have to deal with hall passes sometime during their high school careers. Whether it is to go to the nurse or their locker or to any other place in the school, the student is required to take a hall pass. The hall pass must say the time that the student leaves the class, their name, date, state where they are going and have a teacher’s signature. Many students may wonder why hall passes are necessary. Or they may wonder what the consequences are for not having one. Cheryl Guyett, Dimond’s Principal, said hall passes are needed to “help keep students accountable for their movements in the hallways.” It is to make sure they are not taking “the long way” back to class and to encourage the students to stay in class, Guyett said. Also, if something happens, like a locker being broken into, the teachers can be asked which students left the classrooms that day. Generally, a tardy is given for a student being in the hall without a proper hall pass. After a few offenses a detention might be issued. After about the fourth time, there will be “slightly harsher consequences,” said Guyett. The student may have work detail, Monday school, a call home or more. Rob Galosich, Safety Security, has a more to say on hall passes. He said, if a student does not have a pass they get a detention and maybe a referral to Patsy Shaha, Assistant Principal for Student Services. Students need hall passes so administrators know why they are not in class. Also, the students need permission to be out of class. They cannot just walk out of class anytime they feel like it. In case of a disaster, all students need to be accounted for. Do teachers give passes whenever a student asks? Do the students get a certain number of hall passes for semester? Susan Derrera, English teacher, said she gives her English 11 students four passes for a semester. They could be used as a hall pass, extra credit at the end of the semester or late passes. If the students are tardy, they are asked to hand one over. If the students need to go to the nurse they do not need to give up a pass. She will write one for them, Derrera said. History Teacher Willard Staats gives three hall passes per quarter. No questions asked. He is trying to “extend the responsibility, with a safety net.”