Neshaminy High School (NHS) students returned from winter break on Jan. 2, 2025, to an announcement from ninth-grade Principal Vanessa Robtison. Robtison informed students and staff that random hallway “sweeps” would be conducted before classes, the electronic hall pass system, Securly Pass, would now limit students to three passes instead of five, and no passes would be allowed during the first five minutes of class or the last 20 minutes of the school day. These changes were seen as a “New Year’s resolution” by the administration to help the high school run more efficiently.
Many students were caught off guard and expressed their discontent with the new rules, but when speaking to Stephen Garstka, NHS principal, he revealed that the new measures implemented had been decided after careful review.
“[The administration] pushes kids to class around the halls during the class changes, and the number of kids that, when the bell rings, are still standing between locker banks hanging out was ridiculous,” Garstka said. “We sort of said, ‘All right, what are we doing?’ We need kids in classrooms [and] teachers were not marking those kids late or writing those kids up for being late, so what is going to change their behavior? We wanted to step in to do something to try to push the flow of kids to classes on time.”
Garstka explained that when he checked data on Securly Pass, only 75 or less students used more than three hall passes a day and that this data made him feel that most students would not be affected.
Teachers at NHS, such as science teacher Kathryn Hogan, agreed that the reduction of passes allowed will be beneficial.
“I think students are going to be less likely to make passes now that they can only make three a day, and I think that’s good,” Hogan said. “I think they have plenty of opportunity to use their passes three times a day, plus lunch. Hopefully, they’ll be in class for all of the instruction.”
Garstka said that he also received positive feedback from teachers, who suggested the idea of sweeps and reducing the number of passes.
However, some students do not agree with the new policies put in place. Two female students who wish to remain anonymous argued that some students, especially females, may need to use the bathroom more than three times a day and that the administration should treat the students like the young adults they are.
Students also state that the shortened transition time between class periods, reduced from five minutes to four, makes it difficult for them to get to class on time and avoid being “swept.” Garstka explained that adjusting the time between classes is more complicated than simply lengthening it.
“The reduction to four minutes over the last two school years was in response to seeing kids standing on Main Street, “Garstka said. “Nobody moves until the warning bell rings anyway, so let’s take a minute away. If we were seeing ridiculously large numbers of sweeps when we’ve done them, then we could consider going back to five minutes. But, going back to five minutes, then we’d have to take a minute off of each period, and now we’re reducing the instructional time. It is a delicate balance.”
Garstka went on to explain that transportation would also be affected, for when NHS attempted to return to the typical 2:15 p.m. end time, “Transportation asked us to change back to 2:05 to accommodate them getting to the other middle school and elementary runs,” Garstka said. “Losing that ten minutes or so had an effect as well.” He went on to say that he does not foresee changes occurring to the schedule, “[u]nless something changes with transportation or we start to see much larger numbers of kids [during the sweeps].
So far, sweeps at the high school average about 35 kids a sweep.
These hallway sweeps and limitations on bathroom passes are going to continue at NHS until further notice, and are so far successful in the eyes of the administration, giving credence to Neshaminy’s New Year’s resolution.