Leaders in Montgomery County, Maryland, gave school officials the green light to install vape detectors in high school bathrooms.
The Montgomery County Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the school system's plan to use $2 million in funds to install the detectors.
Tax-payers won't be footing the bill for the detectors. The funding came from a settlement reached between Montgomery County Public Schools and e-cigarette maker Juul.
“We’re all hands on deck. We need to be working with our school partners, which is what this is doing, in order to address these issues in our schools and this is a step in that direction," Montgomery County Council President Andrew Freidson said.
MCPS said it would begin the process of selecting a vendor for the detectors. Last school year, MCPS tested out different detectors at five different high schools as part of a pilot program.
One member of the public, Scott Webber, spoke out in opposition of the detectors and questioned their effectiveness.
“The idea that you can stop vaping by putting in a detection device in the bathroom is not only fiscally irresponsible, but it doesn’t actually get to the core root of the problem," Webber said.
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Ultimately, it’s up to the Montgomery County Board of Education to determine what protocols will be put in place once a detector is set off.
The school board previously told News4 the detectors would be installed at some point this school year.
News4 has requested data on the effectiveness of the pilot program, but has not yet received a response.
