Vape detectors will be installed at every middle school throughout Pitt County Schools as early as next school year following a vote by the Board of Education this week.
School board members unanimously agreed to spend $104,000 to place 93 detection devices in school restrooms and common areas.
Executive Director of Operations Aaron Errickson said the detectors, which the school district also expects to install later in high schools, will be paid for with funding from its JUUL litigation settlement.
“This would cover all your middle school restrooms as well as the middle school restrooms at your K-8 schools,” Errickson said. “These could be installed and operational before next school year.”
The contract includes a five-year subscription that manages the software for the air quality device from security software producer Verkada. It does not include Farmville Middle School, where Triton brand vape detectors were installed as part of a pilot program last year.
“They work,” Errickson said in response to a question from District 4 representative Don Rhodes, whose district includes Farmville schools. “It has pretty much stopped all the plumbing problems that we were having with them flushing vapes.”
One of the factors that prompted Pitt County Schools to join a multi-district litigation against JUUL Labs in August 2022 was physical damage to plumbing systems due to students flushing vape cartridges to avoid detection. JUUL Labs, which faced thousands of suits including class-action and school district cases, reached a $580,742 settlement with PCS in March 2023. In September 2023, the school district reached a $174,904 settlement with Altria, a co-defendant in the e-cigarette litigation.
Attorney Emma Hodson, PCS in-house counsel, has said settlement proceeds are to be used to compensate the school district for damages from vapes and to address youth vaping and nicotine addiction.
Errickson said the Verkada system sends out a message through an app and/or via text message to alert school resources officers and other staff of potential vaping.
In an interview following the board meeting, Errickson said the system is not like a simple smoke detector.
“It works for vape detection as well as certain other keywords that would say something’s going on that needs attention or assistance,” he said. “It does not record. It just listens for certain words.”
Asked if the system relies on artificial intelligence, Errickson said that much of how the vape detection device works is considered by Verkada to be proprietary information.
District 5 representative Jennifer Hodgson asked if educational information could be provided to students who were disciplined for vaping.
“Instead of just punishment, could there be something that we do to sort of help them learn?” she said. “I’m just thinking about a partnership opportunity where we can help teach them about their bodies and what happens (from vaping).
“A lot of time kids this age think they’re invincible,” Hodgson said. “They don’t think that things will ever happen to them or it will hurt them or harm them. They don’t think about the long-term effects of things.”
In other business Monday, the board:
Approved a contract for $205,556 to purchase 104 ViewSonic interactive panels and mobile trolley carts for 18 schools.Approved a $172,000 contract with Pro Surfacing for tennis court repairs at South Central High School, J.H. Rose High School and North Pitt High School.Approved a request to purchase college and career prep labs for E.B. Aycock Middle School and Wellcome Middle School that include a learning management system, interactive curriculum, and supplies and equipment needed for students to complete the modules. The cost is $57,940.50 for Wellcome and $62,851.80 for Aycock.Approved the purchase of 43 Kloud 12 Classroom Cameras for Pactolus Global School at a cost of $92,480. The purchase is to be made with Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds.Recognized the following Principal Fellows: Cornelius Battle of J.H. Rose; Trevor Darden and Courtney Dubis of E.B. Aycock; Megan Harrell of Farmville Middle; and Aaron Rountree of D.H. Conley.Recognized teachers Daniel Fussell of Innovation Early College High School and Lauren Wilmot of North Pitt High School as recipients of the Governor’s Educator Discovery Award.Recognized May 6 as school nurse day and honored school nurses Leslie McArthur (Creekside and Falkland), Cierra Joyner (Lakeforest) and Shawnika Holmes-Faison, (W.H. Robinson and N.C. pre-k) for achieving national certification.Recognized this week as Teacher Appreciation Week.Recognized May as Mental Health Awareness Month.
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