CRYSTAL CITY, Texas – A school district once had students required to pay $1 to receive a new hallway pass if it was lost.
Crystal City ISD, located about two hours southwest of San Antonio, only give one paper hallway pass each month to students. The pass allows students to leave the classroom for restroom breaks or other reasons requiring them to exit during class time.
The paper hall passes only allows students to walk through the hallway to a destination twice per day with each day of the calendar month. Once the pass is used, the date would be crossed off.
A post on Facebook highlighted the policy, which parents shared they were unaware of regarding students needing to pay $1 to get a replacement hall pass if they lost theirs.
Crystal City ISD sent KSAT the following statement regarding the situation:
“The Crystal City Independent School District is unable to comment on any particular student due to federal privacy laws. However, the District can confirm that no student has ever been denied the ability to use the restroom facilities. Importantly, the Sterling Fly Junior High campus has 7 class transition times during the day, and each transition time is about 4 minutes. Students can go to the restroom during that time. Due to safety concerns, the Junior High Campus has a practice of issuing hall passes to students at the beginning of every month. If a student loses their hall pass, they can purchase a replacement. The hall pass practice was instituted by the campus administration for safety and security purposes and to control student traffic in the halls during class time. The District will continue to ensure that all students are always taught in a safe and nurturing learning environment.”
Facebook comments questioned the policy’s legality and the potential need for students to feel like they have to disclose medical issues. Another parent commented that her daughter’s hall pass was washed in the washing machine and that she needed a dollar to get the replacement.
According to a parent who made the initial post, the Sterling Fly Junior High principal decided on Thursday morning in a meeting with a parent that the school would transition to electronic hall passes for restroom use.
The district’s student handbook outlines a policy: “If a student uses a telecommunications device without authorization during the school day, the device will be confiscated.” It also states that “the student/parent may pick up the confiscated telecommunications device from the principal’s office for a fee of $15.”
KSAT requested information from the district regarding where the money goes, what year this policy was implemented, and why the policy was changed on Thursday, the district has not commented.
A rumor has gone around that this policy was adapted based on a San Antonio ISD policy.
SAISD sent the following statement:
“No, we do not have a policy like this, and we do not limit the number of times a student can go to the restroom. Some schools, though, do not issue hall passes for the first and last 15 minutes of class.”