ABILENE, Texas — Bangs ISD is the first school district in the area to implement a new vape-detecting device developed by Halo Smart Sensor.
“They’re the top of the line to where you can’t mask what they detect. You can’t spray cologne or body sprays or things like that, It’ll pick it up through that,” Dr. Josh Martin, Bangs ISD Superintendent, said.
He assured that he only had one reason behind wanting to install these sensors.
“There’s things out there that increase the access to harmful things to our kids and I think that’s something we need to get on top of,” Dr. Martin said.
The device also detects how harmful words are said and their decibel levels.
Each time harmful words or vape is detected, the superintendent, the principal, and the vice principal are notified of the incident and where it took place as soon as it happens.
Dr. Martin recognizes that they are the first in the area to start a project like this but says that was not the priority.
“The ease in which we can install these and upload them and ready to roll, just made it a no-brainer for us. It wasn’t about being the first or the only, it was more about this was something that we felt was important,” Dr. Martin said.
Bangs ISD will start phase one with eight sensors this school year and start phase two next school year.
The sensors will be placed in restrooms and common areas for students in the middle and high schools.
“Privacy was never a concern, because there’s no camera aspect to it. It’s just a safety measure just like our smoke alarms,” Dr. Martin said.
When these sensors are installed in the next couple of weeks, they are anticipating possible glitches but they say they will take care of them once they arise.