School districts receiving a slice of a multistate settlement with a manufacturer of e-cigarettes have to put the money toward improving student health. In many places, that's meant hiring nurses, counselors, or health educators. A California district is among those coming at the problem from another angle, by placing vape sensors in schools, SFGate reports. "We believe these sensors will help us to curb a rising concern," Lincoln Unified Superintendent Kelly Dextraze said in a statement. Most of the Stockton district's sensors have been placed in a hot spot for student vaping—school bathrooms.
If the sensors detect certain vapors, like those emitted by e-cigarettes and vape pens, they work through a silent alarm system to sends a message to administrators. "If it is discovered to be a student or a person who was vaping in the bathroom," district spokesperson Tyler Heberle said, "then disciplinary measures, per our own district policy, are taken from there." California received $175.8 million from the settlement of the lawsuit against Juul, which concerned the San Francisco company's marketing to young people.
Arizona's largest school district has put vape sensors in every middle and high school bathroom, per KNXV. In addition to health, the drivers included student complaints. "When I hear students tell me they don't feel safe going into a bathroom, that really bothers me," said Allen Moore, safety director of Mesa Public Schools. "They should feel safe at school and they should be able to go to the bathroom without worrying what's going on in the bathroom." The district placed a few sensors last year, and word got around. A Mesa high school assistant principal said the number of alerts has fallen recently. The program "definitely has been a deterrent," Jason Grantham said. (More e-cigarettes stories.)
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