Minga is a digital hall pass that all MacArthur students need to use whenever they need to leave the classroom. Minga was first introduced in at the start of the second semester in the 2024-25 school year. It is used to provide more safety for the students.
“This (Minga) makes campus safer because we know where all the students are in case of an emergency,” said Principal Mr.Ray Gonzales.
When students leave class, they log into the app with their ID number and select the location of where they are going. This records the history of when you step out of the classroom. This way, teachers and counselors can track students’ use of hall passes or restroom passes and find ways to limit time outside of the classroom.
Minga then can have reports by student use, by location, by purpose, and even through teacher classrooms. This helps identify students who are outside of class excessively. Also, it lets teachers adjust their routines and expectations.
“I think that minga is just an extra step, and it’s kind of annoying because it glitches sometimes,” said eighth grader Nathan R.
Teachers can use Minga on an iPad or Chromebook. Stations have been set up in all classrooms as well as outside the restrooms and in the front office, pretty much anywhere a student may need to go.
Nathan personally doesn’t like Minga very much. He reports that Minga is glitchy, and so are the buttons. He also says that sometimes it gives him a hard time and he just feels as if it’s an extra step. Another reason this student doesn’t like Minga is because he liked the old pass better
“I think Minga is annoying because it wasted your time,” said seventh-grader Emma H.
A paper hall pass in the school Agenda was the old program, which had bathroom passes for students for each class. For example, students have 5 passes per semester. Students would get the pass signed then use the bathroom and leave their Agenda out of the bathroom. Now, there is a Minga station in which students log when they enter the bathroom aside from the exit pass from the classroom.