In order to go to the bathroom in previous years, students used to raise their hand, ask to leave the classroom, grab a pass, and go. However, there is a new system for the 2025-2026 school year at Arrowhead called ElasticPass. ElasticPass is an online system that requires students to enter which classroom they are going to for resources and which bathroom they are going to. For Arrowhead High School, the set time limit for each bathroom pass is 7 minutes, and the teacher needs to approve the student’s request for a pass.
The school implemented this in hopes of eliminating the issue of students abusing the bathroom pass and wandering around the hallways during class.
“Last year at South Campus, there were some problems with overcrowding in the bathrooms and students wandering in the hallways for long periods of time,” Mr. Andrews, Arrowhead teacher, said.
Students have had mixed reviews of the ElasticPass and how it works in comparison to the old system.
“The normal lanyard bathroom passes work perfectly that way, not too many kids are leaving the classroom at once, and you know when they return,” Hailey Jordan, junior, said. “The new online pass system seems to control the students and their private restroom time”. This is a common theme with the perspective of students on the new pass system.
“[The ElasticPass system] is just as effective as the previous pass system,” Ollie Corry, junior, said.
“The new system is more reliable; it’s kind of annoying that there are limits, but it could be good for keeping kids in class, and the teachers will know where their kids are more than before,” Gracie Runge, senior, said.
As the 2025-2026 school year continues, Arrowhead High School will continue to experiment with the new pass system and see if it eliminates the issues in the hallways. Until then, the conversation of how necessary it is and if seven minutes is enough time to use the restroom will be up for debate between the teachers and the students.
