Starting the 2024 academic year, Morgan teachers will be logging into a new website student monitoring system called Securly, stepping away from Go-Guardian.
Over the past years, the Clinton Public Schools (CPS) has slowly switched from physical resources to online programs. The main online program that is used in the school district is now Securely. Morgan used to have Go-Guardian, a similar product, which was a way for teachers to know what the students were up to on their computers. Morgan changed to Securly because it offers more. Securly acts as a website blocker, E-hall pass, and visitor login system. It also tracks late arrivals and when students leave early. Vice Principle Mr. Luther was a big advocate for the switch last year.
Securly is a company founded by Bharath Madhusudan, Nikita Chikate, and Vinay Mahadik in 2012. Their main mission is to have students be safe, engaged and have good mental health. They also want to boost the confidence between teachers and students. The price is about $6.90 per student, but Morgan bundles the different types of programs they offer so it is cheaper.
E-hall pass, a branch of Securly, was implemented last year in place of paper hall passes. Unlike the paper hall pass, it times each trip to the location that you went to in the school. It also tracks how many times that students have left class that day. Teachers can see this, which helps them determine if they allow you to leave the class.
The E-Hall pass isn’t a hit with students. “It’s time-consuming,” sophomore, Benji Brown, stated and, senior, Zack Elder simply added, “[he] doesn’t like it.” However, it has benefited staff immensely, according to Spanish teacher, Mrs. Rivadeneira and English teacher, Mrs. Mazzarella. It can also help in “security drills or if there is a spill,” said vice principal, Mr. Luther. When there is an emergency drill, severe situation, or damaged property, Morgan staff can see where students are that aren’t in class.
Administrative Assistant, Karyn O’Beirn, runs the guidance office here at Morgan. E-hall pass has helped her because she needs to know when students are coming to see her. It also helps her prepare for the student because more times than not she knows the problem the student may have before they come in via email or a conversation with them beforehand. Mrs. O’Beirn stated, “you have a snapshot of where people are,” which she believes can help teachers determine the location where the student may be since they are not with the class.
Another way the E-hall pass has helped Morgan is with an issue in the bathrooms. At the beginning of last year, there was a student wide survey that went out during Advisory. Under the question of “where in the school do you feel the least safe?” over 100 students said in the bathroom or about 40% of the student body who answered the survey. Mr. Luther believes E-hall pass has helped here as well. “The amount of kids who use the bathroom is way less,” Mr. Luther added. This has helped students be more safe on their trips to the bathroom. While there hasn’t been another survey, general feedback from students supports the feeling between students and the bathrooms has been increasingly positive. “There is less traffic in the bathrooms,” Mr. Luther said, which has been a big contributor to how students feel.
