Forget the lanyards, notes! New app works as digital hall pass in Seminole County schools

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. - We are in the digital age, and the times of using a lanyard or a piece of paper as a hall pass are over.

Some schools in Seminole County are switching to an app called Minga. It works as a digital ID, a timed hall pass, an event notification service, and more, and it’s garnered some mixed reactions from parents and students.

Britney Yotka’s daughter doesn’t care for the app. 

"She was like, ‘This sucks, this is terrible,’" Yotka remembers her daughter saying. "She said it made things a little more chaotic when it was like needing a pass to go to the bathroom, things of that nature. It seemed like it was more of an inconvenience for the student."

Still, Yotka’s daughter stayed open to other people’s perspectives on the app and wound up writing about the varying opinions for her school newspaper at Seminole High School.

Tahmid Bhuiyn, a Junior at Seminole High, has the opposite viewpoint from Yotka. 

"It’s nice, it’s a lot more convenient," said Bhuiyn.

He says it makes his check-in process at school smoother.

"Last year, they’d make me pull up my Skyware, and I’d have to log into my Skyware and then pull up my student card. But now I just have to pull up the Minga App and click on my student ID and show them and then walk into class."

FOX 35 News saw some chatter online from parents scared the app would be tracking their kids’ location. That didn’t sit right with people. However, the CEO of Minga, Jason Richards, says those fears are unfounded.

"We don't track students on campus. We don't use things like GPS. We don't we don't follow them around. We don't access anything on devices or anything like that."

Richards says the Minga app works as an ID, an events notification system, and a digital hall pass.

"What we do is just bring a digital format to the process, which helps, you know, with some reporting and some data around how the hallway is being used with a little more accountability for process for both staff and students on campus," explained Richards.

The app does have some added features. For instance, the Minga app can set a timer on restroom breaks. Plus, schools can set up a system where certain students can’t get hall passes at the same time as each other. That’s meant as a way to crack down on things like bullying, violence, and vaping. 

"So when a student goes to create a hall pass, if another student's out in the hallway that they shouldn't be out with, it will just simply say, you know, try again later," explained Richards.

What’s remained confusing for students and parents, though, is being told they aren’t allowed to have their phones at all, but then being told to use their phones if they want to go to the bathroom or check into school.

"It’s weird because I don’t know my expectations of what I’m supposed to do," said Bhuiyn.

He says he’s liked the cell phone crackdown.

"It’s helped me focus, because, not gonna lie, I used to be on my phone a lot during class."

Yotka is in the same boat.

"There could be a lot of disruptions, so I personally think that if the phones are with the teachers during the class time, it’s better."

Bhuiyn still feels the app will be a positive thing once people get more used to it.

"I feel like, a few more months, we can see how it is, but so far, it’s been really good," said Bhuiyn.

Seminole County Public Schools aren’t the only ones in Central Florida using the Minga app. Brevard County confirmed some of its schools are using them too. Orange, Flagler, Lake, and Marion County Public Schools said they don’t use it. The Volusia County School District says it’s being vetted through the District Software Approval Process.