Charlotte County Schools implementing innovative way to monitor students

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The 2024-2025 school year is quickly approaching. 

Charlotte County Schools are rolling out new and innovative ways to monitor students while on campus.

SmartPass is rolling out to more schools in Charlotte County, allowing you to track your students in real-time.

The SmartPass looks like a regular student ID with a barcode on it and functions as a digital pass. 

The students will scan a card on an electronic reader, which will be placed in every classroom.

A school official we spoke with said the innovative tool not only monitors students while on campus but, importantly, monitors their safety in and out of the classroom.

SmartPass will be implemented in all of Charlotte County’s middle, high, and secondary schools.

Matthew Kunder, the Director of Secondary Learning with Charlotte County Schools, said he’s looking forward to this feature being added to all secondary schools. 

“SmartPass is a digital hall pass system that allows our schools to monitor hallway traffic data and get real-time information about all the students in the building out of class.”

Once the student scans their card, a list of locations will appear. The students will choose where they are heading.

Locations include the boy’s or girl’s restroom, the nurse’s office or a quick trip to the water fountain.

Once a student selects where they’re going, a timer is set. This helps to determine if a student is spending too much time outside the classroom.

All this data is collected from teachers, administrators, and parents. 

“The more information that we can provide them with about their student’s time out of class or instructional time loss, they want to utilize that to be a part of the team to make our students more effective while they’re here,” said Kunder. 

School officials said this tool will also effectively combat one of the latest school epidemics, vaping.

Jack Ham, the Director of School Support for Charlotte County Schools said, “When we spoke last year, we were piloting those sensors and cameras. We’ve expanded that to now we’ve officially installed all of them in our middle and high schools. And so when we open the doors, SmartPass vape sensors and cameras will be all implemented at the same time.” 

The goal and focus behind this is to provide a safe environment for students while in and out of the classroom.

“We can ensure we’re monitoring our students, keeping everybody safe, and doing the right thing. And that’s coming to school to learn,” said Ham. 

If the student forgets to bring their digital SmartPass, they will be given a temporary one. 

The SmartPass feature is set to take full effect at the majority of Charlotte County Schools beginning Aug. 12, which is the first day of school.

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