Vape detectors being installed at some Montgomery County high schools

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - Vape detectors will be installed at a select number of high schools in Montgomery County in the coming weeks.

Montgomery County Public Schools announced the new safety initiative Wednesday in an effort to prevent students from smoking and congregating in school bathrooms. 

The school district says the detectors will help identify any instances of vaping or smoking in the bathrooms, and allow administrators to take appropriate action.

In addition to the added devices, MCPS says it will pilot another program that involves high school students wearing badges as a way to identify themselves on campus. 

"This will help our staff and security personnel to quickly recognize students who belong on campus and identify any individuals who do not," said MCPS Chief Operating Officer Brian Hull.

In February, MCPS introduced the "Student Restroom Monitoring Plan" as parents pressured school leaders to improve safety in bathrooms. 

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The school district said staff is supposed to be increasing checks inside restrooms, installing latches on exterior restroom doors so they can't be locked shut, and limiting access to designated restrooms.

"We have continued the installation of hardware to keep bathroom doors open at the secondary level and implemented districtwide protocols for monitoring bathrooms," the school safety update released Wednesday reads. 

While parents welcomed MCPS cracking down on e-cigarette tobacco and marijuana vape use on school grounds, there were also some frustrations that the message from MCPS was "too vague."

"It was good to see some of it going forward. I think there’s more to be done and I look forward to MCPS continuing to work because as Dr. McKnight said in her letter and her statement, like, safety and security has to be non-negotiable and has to be priority for any learning environment to be good and effective," said John F. Kennedy High School PTSA Vice President, Ricky Ribeiro.

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Ribeiro is also part of an advisory group that’s been pushing for many of these security changes.

Asked if he thought this would work, Ribeiro answered, "It’s hard for me to say it will. Again I appreciate the tone. I appreciate the direction. I think that more could be done. You know, one thing that was – that other school districts have stepped up that I didn’t see included that I would’ve liked to have seen is enhancements to video surveillance."

FOX 5 followed up with MCPS on some questions regarding the vape detector program. MCPS Spokesperson Jessica Baxter sent this response:

The safety and well-being of all MCPS students is the top priority for the school system. We know that there has been an increase in hate and violent incidents, as well as dangerous trends in access to illicit substances by our youth across our county. Unfortunately, MCPS is not immune to this trend. We are actively exploring safety improvements in response to these trends to keep our schools safe.

District leadership has been working with our school administrators, students, staff and families to appropriately address these issues. The latest message sent yesterday evening is an update to the community on the actions we are taking.

There are several measures currently up for consideration. Schools are working with their staff and security personnel to regularly check on restrooms to discourage inappropriate behavior. We are adding security staff and looking at ways to utilize more staff members to improve safety.

School security staff have engaged in additional professional development that provided expectations and best practices for monitoring school restrooms and maintaining safety within the building. 

On Vape Detectors:

There are 5 high schools involved in this initial pilot program from various parts of the county. The detectors are sensors meant to detect smoke or vape fumes within a specific area. Once detected, the device sends a message by text or email to designated staff members to alert them. In terms of notifications, the District has been proactive in our messaging to keep our community informed and engaged on safety in our schools. We have conducted fentanyl forums, press conferences, listening sessions and messages, like the one that went out yesterday evening.

We will be notifying the 5 pilot schools in the coming days. We want to notify school communities that will be part of the pilot first prior to sharing publicly. I think it is important to note that the schools selected are a good distribution across the county and have had incidents over this past school year.

Since this is a pilot program and in the procurement process, we have vendors that are leasing or donating devices. We have to assess the pilot, the devices, how they work within school operations and the feasibility of expanding the pilot. Therefore, final costs are yet to be determined. The number of sensors installed at the schools vary depending on the number and size of restrooms.

All illegal drugs and tobacco products, including E-cigarettes and marijuana vaporizers, are prohibited on school grounds. When found, disciplinary and/or criminal consequences are implemented and followed in alignment with the Student Code of Conduct.

FOX 5 was told the three companies MCPS is looking to work with in the procurement process are: Halo, Triton and Zeptive. Online, one device can apparently tell you how many people are within the location of the detector.

MCPS did not identify how many students have received reprimands or a civil violation for vaping on school grounds this school year.