PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla — The police chief for the Palm Beach County School District announced on Friday a new pilot program at a number of schools aimed at reducing vaping.
Chief Sarah Mooney said the detectors will be installed in bathrooms.
"It’s not just the physical security that we’re looking at," said Mooney. "We’re also looking at the wellbeing of our students. An additional project that we’re going to kick off this year is the addition of vape detectors at a number of our campuses. It’s a small pilot project that we’re going to be involved in to reduce the instances of vaping on our campuses."
Superintendent Michael Burke said disciplinary measures won’t change, but what will change are the ways administrators are able to enforce policy rules.
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"What the detectors do is alert the school administrators that someone is vaping in a restroom. It’s like a smoke detector,” said Burke
Burke said with other security measures already in place the detectors will be another layer of security.
"If the students have left, there are no cameras in the bathrooms, but there are cameras in the hallways," said Burke. "Sometimes you can roll back the video and see who is going in and our of the restroom and dig a little deeper."
The district did not disclose which schools will be first to install the vape detectors.
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