Campus passes need more information

December 7, 2010 — by Samika Kumar

It was a Tuesday morning a couple weeks ago, when I received my first yellow campus pass with a check mark by the words, “Ass’t Principal.” I remember panicking when my teacher asked if I had done something wrong. As I sauntered down the hall to the office, I racked my brain in search of a reason for how I had earned this ominous trip to assistant principal Chris Cerbone’s office.

It was a Tuesday morning a couple weeks ago, when I received my first yellow campus pass with a check mark by the words, “Ass’t Principal.” I remember panicking when my teacher asked if I had done something wrong. As I sauntered down the hall to the office, I racked my brain in search of a reason for how I had earned this ominous trip to assistant principal Chris Cerbone’s office.

I knew most people are called there for disciplinary matters, but I could not think of anything extraordinarily bad that I had done. To make the situation more stressful and urgent, the pass asked for me to come at the beginning of the period. I could not decipher the signature on the pass either, so I assumed it was Cerbone’s.

On the contrary, I was surprised by the pleasant result of my trip. A lady sitting in the attendance region of the office directed me to a group of juniors who were sending out invitations to Green Tea, a tea party and chat on how to make the campus greener. The irony of it all was that I had spent the past five minutes fearing a conversation with the assistant principal and a possible permanent blemish in my future academic career— only to find that I had been invited to a tea party.

I am sure many students have walked in my shoes and faced similar worries since campus passes contain so little information. The pass has a section directing to where and to whom the student should report to. An option to report to a fellow student in the office could help in a situation, like mine, where students are called out of class to meet peers in the office.

If the desired option is not on the pass, extra notes should be written on the pass that direct the students for where they should go or for who to report to. However, in the long run, this option can be tedious, especially when there are many campus passes to fill out.

The passes generally leave students confused on why they are being called out of class. Extra space at the bottom of the pass could leave room for brief information regarding why students are being called out. Some people may oppose this idea due to student privacy, but when students receive their passes, it is their choice to show their passes to peers.

Whatever outcome is decided, students would benefit to have more information on campus passes. This small change would not only reduce confusion in the office but also decrease unnecessary stress for students.

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