How much do you like the new 5Star bathroom pass system? Sorry, there was an error loading this poll.
This new addition to Glenbard’s technology aims to combat a problem many schools across the nation face, students leaving to the bathroom and taking forever to come back. Through the 5-Star app, students scan a QR Code which loads a digital hall pass with a 5 minute timer. If a student doesn’t scan back in on time, their dean may be notified and can take disciplinary action on the student.
This new system also restricts more than 6 students from going to the bathroom at the same time on one floor. Before the addition of digital hall passes with the 5-Star app, there was no way to control how many students could use the bathroom at a time, which would lead to incidents in school bathrooms caused by a large presence of people. The app also allows for staff to track down students and hold them accountable if there was an incident in the bathroom.
We asked a few teachers, students, and staff members about their opinions on this new system, and we received lots of mixed responses. Some of these responses are in favor of the 5-Star bathroom system, while other responses criticize the system.
Ms. Hildreth, a history teacher, states how the new bathroom pass system is “an improvement on what the old system was” and makes students “conscious” about their bathroom usage statistics due to the fact that it “puts more parameters” on what students can do in the bathrooms. She also adds that she believes that students are in class more because of the new bathroom system.
Mr. Park, a student teacher at East, stated many students struggle with rejected bathroom requests due to the 6-person limit, which leads them to have to play the waiting game. Park suggested the idea of a virtual bathroom queue. However, he agrees that students are in class more.
Mr. Booth, Assistant Principal of Student Services, as well as Ms. O’Connor and Ms. Yi, both English honors teachers, believe the 5-Star bathroom passes are good for safety, and they’re better than the previous systems East has had throughout the year. Ms. Yi mentioned how the 5-Star app is “somewhat of an extension to what we already have” as it “lets us (teachers and staff) know where students are at in terms of attendance, and lets us make sure they are where they’re supposed to be.” Mr. Booth states he believes that the more you use the system, the more you can find ways to improve it, such as adding a queue, which many other teachers, such as Ms. O’Connor, agree on. Additionally, like many other teachers, Mr. Booth agrees that the system keeps students in class more, which improves the quality of teaching, and believes the 5-Star app gives students “a sense of responsibility.”
Students Juan Oviedo and Raul Rios, however, both agreed on the fact that the 5-Star system was a negative addition to the school and how it’s “trash”, as the 5-Star app “doesn’t load” and “logs you out a lot”. They also shared how the system makes them “stressed” knowing that they have to return in a limited time which other students, such as Julian Reyna and Papa Ndiaye agree on. However, unlike Oviedo and Rios, Reyna states he believes the 5-Star system is a positive addition to the school, as it helps teachers and staff know where all students are, which greatly helps with safety.
On the subject of safety, Mr. Booth and Ms. Pigoni, a dean at East, shared their thoughts on how the 5-Star bathroom pass system helped contribute to finding the student responsible for bringing a weapon to East on September 12th, 2024. Booth stated how the system helped “narrow down the timeline” to finding the individual responsible in addition to using video footage. Pigoni added, “It was a good way for them to figure out who used the bathroom around that time, and helped the process of finding the student responsible go quicker.”
Overall, the 5-Star system is viewed as mostly positive, but there are still teachers and students who believe that the system could be improved upon. However, there’s no doubt that the system heightens security measures and helps keep students and staff safe at East.
