LABELLE, Fla. — Hendry County School District officials said their vape detection system is working to reduce student vaping on campus since its installation in 2023.
"Students have seen other students have to face the consequences and they realize it's from the vape detectors," said Tammy Bass, principal of LaBelle High School.
Watch Fox 4'S Allie Kaiser hear about how the detectors are helping schools see less vaping:
The detection system works by monitoring changes in atmosphere within school bathrooms. When an alert is triggered, Bass and other staff receive a notification that lets them know to check security cameras to identify students leaving the area.
"It interrupts learning. Students are trying to get out of class, because they need to go smoke," Bass said.
During the first year of implementation, staff at LaBelle High School said they took 16 THC vapes and 25 tobacco vapes. The total number dropped to 24 vapes across all categories the following year.
Curtis Clay, director of security and transportation for the Hendry County School District, expects the numbers to continue declining as the system becomes more refined.
"I think we're going to see a better decrease as we continue to move forward, because we had to go through the growing pains of getting the vape detectors to where they actively worked," Clay said.
The district attributes the reduction not only to the vape detectors, but also to the installation of metal detectors at school entrances and education about the dangers of vaping.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
