This was previously published in our December 2025 issue.
On Nov. 15, Principal Beth Guarriello emailed the student body to inform them of a significant change to Hornet Homeroom. All passes must be in email form from teachers rather than the original signed paper format.
Despite what students may think about the situation, there are reasons for this change. Recently, the school has been facing issues with students using forged passes to go places they shouldn’t be during homeroom. This problem has made it difficult for teachers to keep track of students.
According to Guarriello, the problems eventually necessitated a change.
“There were so many kids roaming the halls without passes, or with forged passes, or not actually going to homeroom at all. So, we’re trying to get kids where they’re supposed to be,” Guarriello said. “It’s really a safety issue because a lot of kids are skipping homeroom or they have forged passes, and so we don’t know who’s where.”
Many students are disgruntled with having to acquire email passes, seeing it as inconvenient, inefficient, and time-consuming. Freshman Maddi Zosky is one student who feels this way.
“If you need to get something done that day…in homeroom, because you might not have a study hall, it’s a little frustrating because you have to get it that day and it has to be pre-written and sent to both homeroom [teachers],” Zosky said. “It’s just a lot of work, and by the time all that’s done, you’re not gonna have time to do [the work].”
On the other hand, some students believe that the change to email passes might be a positive one, like senior Evan Borkowski. Though he has a permanent pass, he believes that obtaining an email pass won’t be too difficult.
“I don’t foresee it being terribly difficult because, I mean, it’s not that complicated,” Borkowski said. “You just ask your teacher for a pass, and they can literally just send it to you, so I don’t think it’s a huge issue.”
However, Borkowski doesn’t feel as though the electronic passes will reduce the amount of students wandering the halls.
“Well, it all depends on if the monitors actually check for the pass or not, which, honestly, I would say is actually gonna be harder now because kids have to have their computer with them or something,” Borkowski said.
English teacher Lauren Gibson thinks that the change from paper passes to email passes is a good one. Gibson feels the change to email passes allows her to keep track of her students and use her time more efficiently. She also believes that electronic passes create a safer environment in the school.
“I actually really like the change,” Gibson said, “just because it keeps a record for both me and for the students. If somebody emails me a day in advance, it helps me to prepare.”
Gibson emphasizes that writing passes doesn’t only waste time, but also isn’t a safe option. Gibson highlights that paper passes could end up being in the wrong hands, and end up getting students in trouble.
“I hate writing passes. It’s time consuming, and I have to dig through my desk. And also, you never really know whose hands your pass might end up [in],” Gibson said. “I think [the usage of electronic passes] is a more secure way to use a pass. A school where kids are roaming the halls is not a safe school.”
Gibson would like to see the school return to an electronic pass system, like E-HallPass. Having an electronic pass system would allow teachers to see where their students have been, and how many times they have been out throughout the day, ensuring that students are in class for the optimal amount of time.
“I actually think it would be great if we had an electronic pass system…I have worked in buildings that [have] usedthat,” Gibson said.
The school community hopes to see a shift with the switch to email passes. Whether it is positive or negative, there will always be supporters and opposers of the change.
