Hello, efficiency; goodbye, forgery. This year a new system has been put into place, and are instead of signatures teachers are to use stamps for passes. These stamps were given to each and every teacher, so far proving to be a fast and easy way to distribute passes. The first ones to start the trend were the librarians

“There are so many students that come here, using a stamp allows the teacher to easily recognize were they came from,” said librarian Susan Salpini.

Before the stamps came into play students got away with forgery much more easily, faking teacher’s signatures or just re using old passes. Although students are still able to erase the time or date, the stamped name of a teacher will be easily traced back to the teacher who the stamp belongs to. Tackling the issue of pass forgery allows students less freedom when skipping or being purposefully late to class. Skipping has always been an issue but perhaps the new stamps will keep some from the frequency of it.

“They help with number one consistency, number two cut down on forgery, everyone is accountable student and teachers,” said administrator Richard Griffin.

Although beneficial there are some problems with it as well. During a lesson, teachers may find it difficult to grab both their stamp and ink to fill out a pass, which it not very easy if they are occupied. If a student has misplaced their planner, they instead get a stamp on their hands or on pieces of paper. Some students use throughout the day to their own benefit.

“I think it was much easier for a teacher to write their signature, rather than looking for a stamp,” says junior Alexis McEntire.

With every success, there is a flaw. But, with all the good they bring their flaws can be overlooked. The forgery of passes will always occur. If used in earnest or not, no stamp or system will fully end the struggle. The knowledge that the stamping will put a damper on this struggle should put attendance officials at ease.

“So far, I haven’t seen any of this happening, probably because the kids here are honest,” said Theater Arts Director Mary Jo Levesque.