“This app killed my dog.”
“My boyfriend broke up with me [because] of this app.”
“This app got me banned from life.”
“WORST APP”
These are all titles of 1-star reviews connected to the 5-Star Student app. These reviews come from the movement of students trying to get the app a low enough rating that it is removed from the App Store. Removal would prevent students from accessing it for school, making schools unable to use this system.
Paulding Middle School, Judkins Middle School, and Mesa Middle School implemented the 5-Star system a few years ago. Arroyo Grande High School is evaluating whether 5-Star would work with the school, regarding extracurricular activities and bathroom passes.
“The district paid for [5-Star], but we were never notified,” Sophomore Administrator Shayne MacCuish said. “[Once we found out,] we [thought it had] some possibilities for us.”
The 5-Star system wasn’t their first choice, but it was what the district could afford.
“We can’t afford [other digital systems], and [5-Star] is pretty inexpensive for what it does,” MacCuish said.
AGHS uses the 5-Star system to assign students passes, check students into dances—like Winter Formal and Prom—and assign and check students into tutoring. The school is testing these systems with some teachers, including AP European and US History teacher Kelli Peters.
“I have mostly used it for my history lab,” Peters said. “I know that [the administration] hopes to use it much more for [extracurricular activities], not just bathroom passes.”
Peters likes to use the system for her history lab but still has concerns regarding using it in class.
“Currently, not [a lot] of my students have the app, [making the system] a little more time-consuming to me right now because I have to type in their student ID numbers,” Peters said.
Students having the 5-Star app allows teachers to scan the QR code on their phones, which would take away less class time. However, administration doesn’t want students to use their phones.
“[Students] can use [5-Star] on a desktop or a Chromebook,” MacCuish said. “[Administration is] still trying to keep phones [away].”
Administrators want teachers to type in students’ IDs into their computers, but teachers fear this will take too much class time away. Students don’t care for either, wanting the current physical system to stay.
“[5-Star] seems weird and a little sketchy,” Zivah Hartman (‘25) said. “Completely relying on electronics [can come with many] issues.”
Hartman questions the complete switch to using the 5-Star system and eliminating physical passes. However, she also sees the benefits of implementing the new system.
“I think that for school dances it will be beneficial because [it’s] a scan system,” Hartman said. “[Students] can just walk in rather than [administration having] to scan every individual ID card. [5-Star] could make lines a lot faster for dances.”
Students and teachers feel the new system can be useful, but they still have concerns. A benefit they foresee is more bathrooms opening, but students are still concerned about the rules for using this new system.
“Hopefully [5-Star] will [open more bathrooms],” MacCuish said. “The reason why is because we can limit the number of bathroom passes that are on campus. So if we say only 20 bathroom passes at any one time and you’re number 21, you [have to] wait for someone to come back before that pass will be available.”
5-Star limits the number of students out at a time and can even prevent two specific students from being out at the same time, even if they are in two different classes. This aspect upsets students.
“If they start using it for the bathroom, I’m going to drop out of school,” Hartman said.
Students all over the nation believe that this new system is limiting their freedom, so they are trying to remove it from the App Store. However, this new system presents benefits, meaning the app could be effective if students, teachers, and administration work together.
