This year Norman North introduced Minga digital hall passes, an online hall pass system that requires students to request and log passes to enter and leave different areas of the school. Minga was introduced with a goal of improving accountability and reducing hallway disruptions. 

But what do Norman North’s students and staff think about these new passes? 

Since being implemented, Minga has drawn criticism from many students, particularly for the three-pass-per-day limit. Students believe this adds excessive and unnecessary stress in an already stressful environment. 

  “A lot of students are scared to go to the bathroom in fear they will use up all their daily passes” Aubrey Tidwell (09) said.  Students have been refraining from using the bathroom even in emergencies in fear they will get flagged by Minga for excessive pass use. 

“We went from having hundreds of tardies in first hour to maybe one hundred,” Freshman Principal Amber Pennell said. 

Administrators point out that Minga has decreased tardies and bad behaviors at North. “The amount of students in the halls have drastically gone down,” Assistant Principal Barry Whitsell said. Minga has so far proven to decrease the number of students entering and exiting the hallways, which helps keep our students safe in an emergency.  

Some teachers have also noted that Minga has been helpful in their classrooms.

“I love it (Minga),” Oklahoma History, John Boogaard said.  “It’s helped decrease the tardiness.” 

Since students have begun using Minga, there have been a lot of problems for not only the students but teachers as well. 

“It takes up time in class I could be using for studying,” Isiah Poe (09) said. Minga passes require students to use their school-issued MacBook or Chromebook and create a digital hall pass manually. 

To create a Minga hall pass, students have to log in to the Minga Dashboard and click ‘Create a Hall Pass’, then scroll to find the nearest restroom and select their teacher’s name. School internet connectivity can increase the overall time it takes to create a hall pass. 

Whether students love it, principals have said Minga is here to stay for at least the rest of the year.