New digital hall passes track bathroom breaks, gather data in NYC schools

Permission to use the bathroom has taken an Orwellian turn at more than 150 New York City public schools, students say.

New digital hall passes allow teachers to more closely monitor how long a student is spending in the bathroom — and who else has requested a bathroom break. The tech, called SmartPass, says it allows educators to track where students in the school have gone and for how long, making it easier to “disrupt bathroom meetups.” But some students are up in arms over what they see as an expansion of the surveillance state.

”It’s taken micromanaging students to a whole other level,” said Shokhjakhon Samiev, 18. “We’re here to educate ourselves, not learn how to use the bathroom, right?”

Samiev, a high school senior and member of the New York Civil Liberties Union’s Teen Activist Project, said SmartPass debuted at his Brooklyn public high school last fall. Now, he said, students have to sign out on an iPad posted by the classroom door that times the student’s trip.

SmartPass’ website touts a feature called “hall monitor,” which allows “any teacher or staff to see all students with an active pass ⏤ including where they should be going and how long they have to get back to class.” The website advertises SmartPass as helping thwart hangouts in the bathroom, vaping and vandalism.

SmartPass is just one example of the way technology is transforming education and igniting debate among policy makers, parents, educators and experts.

On Tuesday, the education department is expected to release guidance on artificial intelligence in schools. Separately, the department has proposed opening a new high school with a focus on cutting-edge technology, including AI.

But many parents are pushing back on the growing use of new education technology in the classroom. Buoyed by the ban on smartphones, parents have turned their attention to other devices used in the classroom. Some 1,400 parents, educators and students have signed a petition calling for a moratorium on artificial intelligence in schools.

“It’s just creepy,” Johanna Miller, director of education policy at NYCLU, said of SmartPass.

She warned it will “inevitably turn a student into a product and turn a student’s behavior into a long-term record that is exploitable, hackable, and can be used against the kids.”

Education department officials said SmartPass has been vetted to make sure students’ data is protected. “NYC Public Schools takes student privacy concerns seriously, and all approved tools must meet established privacy and security standards,” education department spokesperson Onika Richards said. A total of 167 schools are using SmartPass.

Spokespeople for the company did not respond to questions about students’ privacy concerns. Public records show the education department spent $368,000 on SmartPass contracts in 2025, and $120,000 the year before.

In a testimonial on the SmartPass website, Derek Stampone, an assistant principal at the High School of Fashion Industries in Manhattan, said the app helps educators stay focused on their lessons.

“The reality was, our paper system was broken. Teachers were losing valuable time writing passes, and we had no real data on where students were or how long they were out. We needed something better,” Stampone said. He praised the “full visibility” the app gives into students’ whereabouts, and said it allowed teachers to control traffic to the bathroom, enhancing safety.

But many students and teachers told Gothamist that requests to go to the bathroom are handled the same way they were before the digital age, with students raising their hands for permission. They said they still use old fashioned hall passes, which are everything from laminated pieces of paper to empty water cooler jugs that must be hauled to and from the bathroom.

Samiev said one loophole with SmartPass is that a kid can sign out under a classmate’s name.  ”There have been instances in my school where a student couldn’t use the bathroom because another student had signed out as them,” he said.

He said parents should have been offered a chance to opt out of the app.

“Schools are spending thousands of dollars for this system, to buy iPads instead of hiring more teachers or [building] better facilities at our schools,” he said.