CASE STUDY

How Merced High Cut Time Out of Class by 52% With Digital Hall Passes

Students could take a paper pass and roam the halls for a whole period. With live timers and daily limits for students who overuse passes, Merced cut hallway time by 52%.

  • 52%less time spent in hallways
  • 41,019hall passes tracked in one semester
  • 2,753hours of hallway time accounted for
Merced High School, California

Merced High School

High School

Grades: 9–12

California

Students: 1,900

Solutions used

Digital Hall Pass
THE CHALLENGE

A Paper Pass Could Last All Period

At Merced High, students could grab a paper pass and roam the halls for the entire period, because staff had no way to know when they’d left class. Students gathered in restrooms, and a simple bathroom break could stretch past 10 minutes. With no data, staff couldn’t see which students were overusing passes.

Key problem areas:

  • Little accountability for time out of class
  • Too much time spent in the hallways
  • No information on how passes were used
  • Students gathering in restrooms during class
  • No way to spot students overusing passes

Digital Hall Passes have changed the school a lot in terms of accountability. Last year we were using hard-copy hall passes, kids could be roaming around the entire period and we don’t know when the teacher released them so with Minga we can say no your pass expired 10 minutes ago, you need to go back to class.”

Phaedra Hofmann
Associate Principal
Merced High School, CA

THE SOLUTION

Live Timers and a Dashboard for Hall Monitors

Merced moved to Minga digital hall passes to reduce time out of class, with a live timer that nudges students back to class on time. In classrooms that allow phones, students create their own passes, and in no-phone classrooms, teachers assign them.

Hall monitors see every active pass on a live dashboard and send students with expired passes back to class. Pass data showed which students were overusing passes, so the school set daily limits for them.

What Minga offered:

  • Digital hall passes with live timers
  • A live dashboard of active passes for hall monitors
  • Usage reports and trends
  • Group and individual pass limits
  • Custom pass types

Digital Hall Passes are working really well for us. We don’t have kids hanging out in the bathroom like they used to. Kids used to say ‘oh my teacher didn’t have a pass.’ and now if they don’t have their Minga pass we send them back to class to get one so I think the accountability is working out really well.”

Stephanie Cowperthwaite
Campus Liaison
Merced High School, CA

THE OUTCOMES

Less Time Out of Class and More Accountability

52% less time in the hallways

Within three months, hallway traffic during class time dropped sharply.

41,019 passes, all tracked

In one semester, every pass was logged, accounting for 2,753 hours of hallway time.

Fewer restroom hangouts

Live timers send students back to class, and staff can check any pass on the spot.

Overuse spotted and limited

Pass data shows which students leave class too often, and daily limits keep it in check.

Students manage their own time

Seeing the timer on their ID gives students a reason to get back on time.

A clear record for follow-up

Admins can see which students may need more attention.

See How Minga Can Reduce Time Out of Class at Your School

Get results like Merced High. Schedule a 30-minute demo and see how Minga can help you reduce time out of class.

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