On March 31, 2026, Principal Cohen made an announcement during third period that the deans would conduct a hall sweep later during the school day. This is following another announcement of the same nature a few weeks prior.
The hall sweeps are being conducted in order to prevent Madison students from skipping their classes by hiding out in the halls or stairwells as well as preventing students from being unreasonably late to class.
The given time for students to get to their next class after their preceding class ends is 4 minutes as per the Madison Bell Schedule. It is expected that every student makes it to their next class within those 4 minutes so that the student is not marked late or absent.
However, some students disregard this rule by skipping class or intentionally distracting themselves during passing which results in them arriving to class late. This has led to the hall sweeps being conducted to encourage students to get to class on time.
Especially recently, with the two announcements about the hall sweeps indicating that there may be an increase in the amount of hall sweeps in future.
Students were asked how they felt about the hall sweeps and whether they’re effective in what school administration is trying to achieve.
“I cannot be that mad at the increased enforcement. But, I don’t think they are effective at all as it doesn’t target the problem at its source.” said Kanye Young (‘26). “Kids will still skip classes and kicking them out of the hallways doesn’t make them suddenly want to be at their class.”
“I feel like these hallsweeps will make a change for kids to get to class on time.” said an anonymous student (‘27), “I feel like kids are more focused on getting to their classes on time now than before.”
“I think hallsweeps are productive in catching students but unproductive in changing student behavior.” another student said anonymously (‘28). “I see examples of kids that don’t care that they get picked up and continue skipping or being late.”
“They are not the most effective, teachers should be informed privately on when to lock their doors after [the] late bell otherwise [a] larger majority of skippers won’t be caught, leading to most skippers feeling a smaller motivation to actually go to class.” said Daniel Miller (‘28).
Two teachers were also asked how they felt about the effectiveness of the hall sweeps.
“I think it is a good first start, but it needs to be expanded,” said Mr. Rubin, a math teacher at Madison. Rubin also stated, “[The hall sweeps have] not really [had an impact on students arriving to class on time], I would say there has been a slight improvement, but this has not stopped the chronic skippers from skipping.”
“Sometimes the hallways can be chaotic, and disruptive to the learning environment inside the classroom; so we as a community must take steps to try and remedy the situation.” said Mr. Misell, a Law teacher at Madison.
Misell added, “I think the hallsweeps are a work in progress…But realistically the students who are always in the hall are mostly repeat offenders, and disciplinary action might be the wake-up call they need.”
Additionally, Misell said, “I think that hall sweeps should be conducted on a semi-regular basis, predominantly during the periods where they have the largest impact on daily instruction.”
It can only be expected that there will be more hall sweeps conducted in the future as Madison tries to combat the issue of student lateness and students skipping.
