Campolindo High School started the 2025-2026 school year with changes and updates to both hall pass and cell phone policies. Students will be required to sign out their name, along with the time when they leave and return, on a classroom check-out sheet. Students will also be expected to carry a hall pass with them when they are out of class.
Campolindo has also grown stricter surrounding cell phone policies. There is a special emphasis placed on students not bringing their phone with them if they are temporarily leaving class. In addition, there is a larger focus on putting one’s phone in the phone caddy to help students learn without distractions.
Some students have noticed a shift in the policies compared to last year. Sophomore Ava De La Cruz says that she “didn’t think [the cell phone and hall pass policies] were that different” last year as compared to this year. De La Cruz further comments that the only real difference she’s noticed is “the slip [hall pass] that she has to carry” while out of class. She also notes that her teachers are “pretty relaxed” in enforcing the new policies.
However, other students, such as junior Ellie Fern, notice a larger difference in the policies effectiveness this school year. Fern notes that she’s become more productive this year in class compared to last year. She mentions that many of her classmates, including herself, were often distracted by their phones in some of her classes last year: “For computer science class, we used to be on our phones last year but this year I’m actually doing coding.” Due to the enforced phone caddy policy this year, Fern feels more focused and efficient in her work which she sees as a huge benefit to herself and others.
Senior Taejin Chung reflected that there has been a large shift in policy from his freshman to his senior year. In freshman year, Chung states that while phone caddies existed, they were not utilized in class by teachers as they are today: “My freshman year, some people had the fun caddies but it wasn’t really enforced that hard, it was more a teacher to teacher thing.” He, like Fern, believes that the phone caddies are useful in terms of keeping students on task. Chung also said that while he believes that the new hall pass policy to be at times inconvenient, he recognizes its value in regulating the flow of students in and out of the classroom. In addition, Chung, like De La Cruz and Fern, agrees that some teachers enforce cell phone and hall policies more so than others.
James Lathrop, Campolindo’s Assistant Principal, weighed in his opinion on the new policies. Lathrop explained that the phone caddy policy was put in place to decrease anxiety and reduce distractions during class, while still being able to access phones during passing periods, brunch, and lunch. Furthermore, Lathrop explained that hall passes are enforced due to safety concerns over the whereabouts of students, in the event of an emergency or other important matter: “The hall pass policy was something to help with communication with students being out of the classroom, when students are out of the classroom its quick and easy to tell if they have been approved, where they’re coming from, and to add a level of communication.” Lathrop’s philosophy on the new policies is that they are meant to overall benefit the student’s learning.
Campolindo students have had a range of reactions to the new policies pertaining to the new phone and hall passes. While opinions of these new rules may vary, all can agree that the updated policies reflect an effort to create a safer and more focused learning environment, with the ultimate goal being student support.
