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LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — A Virginia school district has installed vape detectors in certain high schools.
The machines at E.C. Glass and Heritage High School detect vaping tobacco and THC, and can also identify if a student is trying to mask the smell of a vape with cologne.
The devices set off an alarm when it’s triggered and it sends an alert to administrators.
Dr. Derrick Brown, the Director of Student Services with Lynchburg City Schools said these allow administrators to respond quickly and get students the help they need.
“It alerts us to students who may be engaging in dangerous behavior. Whether that is horseplay or aggressive behavior or vaping,” Brown said.
Brown said the system also lets students use voice commands to get help in a hurry. If they say “Help, there’s an emergency,” then it will let administrators know.
He also said these detectors are a proactive measure.
We really just don’t want students forming poor habits that are going to impact them later on in their life and we want them to be as safe as possible and forming good habits,” Brown said.
The district is looking to expand them to locker rooms as well.
Phase one of the plan was getting these in high schools. The school system hopes to put them in all of their middle schools as well.