The Marshalltown Community School District is determined to deal with the mess of vaping in schools. The school district board voted unanimously on Monday to approve the installation of vape detectors in school buildings in the district. Now it is just a matter of time before the Marshall town Learning Academy, the Lenihan Intermediate School, the Marshalltown High School and the Miller Middle school buildings have Halo 3C sensors installed in them.
Amy Harmsen, the school district’s director of technology is the one who brought the issue to the board seeking approval for a budget of $130,720.87. This is the total amount needed to purchase and install 73 Hallo 3C vape sensors in the school buildings within the district.
This was done following an increase in school kids being found to vape at school across the state. Already many school heads have reported cases of kids vaping in bathrooms and other areas within the school.
According to Harmsen, teen vaping is a national problem that the Marshalltown community district has been forced to grapple with. He further says that with the vape sensors they will be able to cover areas such as the bathroom where kids can walk in and just vape. With audible sensors, the school heads and teachers will be notified when students vape and this way, they will be able to check things out. Most importantly the presence of these sensors will serve as a deterrent to students who may want to bring vaping products to school.
The Halo 3C sensors were chosen because they can monitor areas that require privacy such as bathrooms without the need for a camera or even an audio recorder. This way the sensor will alert those in charge of those buildings when vape products are being used without recording any personal information belonging to the students.
The Hallo 3C Sensors are designed to sense abnormalities in the air around them. They then make a loud sound to notify those around them of the abnormalities in the air. They also send a text or email alerts to faculty members with the information on the location where the alarm was triggered.
The Halo 3C Sensors will also be integrated into the existing school surveillance system to activate the relevant cameras. This will help identify any students that try to vape in school buildings. According to Harmsen, this will only be part of a wider surveillance process to help deter students from vaping within school compounds.
Harmsen said that the vape detectors are expected to be installed in the identified buildings over the next several months before the school year ends. Once installed he believes that the effort will help drive down cases of kids vaping in school. He also hopes this will go a long way in preventing the youngsters in the school district from picking up the vaping habit. This is because vaping has been found to have many serious adverse health problems.
He says the school district does not aim to harass kids by installing the sensors. They are only being installed as a deterrent so that students don’t want to linger longer in an area, they know has vape sensors. It will also serve as a reminder to kids not to bring any illegally acquired vaping devices to school.
