DEARBORN — A Metro Detroit school district is taking measures to hopefully stop students from vaping on campus with vape detectors.
Dearborn Public Schools is tackling vaping, which school officials say is not isolated to Dearborn, as more public school districts are taking actions on the three fronts of epidemics affecting teens: smoking, drinking and now vaping.
Vaping is so discrete, and it only takes a second to do; students are taking quick bathroom breaks to vape so they’re not in sight of the administration.
“This is not a problem that is unique to our schools or our district — this is a problem that is faced by schools and districts and communities across our entire country right now,” said Communications Director David Mustonen.
Vaping is a very difficult thing to catch as there is sometimes no smell that can be left behind. So how can teachers and other staff members catch students who are vaping?
Dearborn Schools had an answer, with HALO Vape Detectors placed in the bathrooms, paired with software.
The detectors were installed at the beginning of the year, and school officials say that since then, the vape alerts have decreased by 80 percent.
“I’ve heard from my friends personally that they feel more comfortable going into the bathroom because they’re not afraid that there’s going to be somebody vaping in there,” one student said.
“The HALO Cloud allows the device to talk to our administrators here in the building via a HALO Cloud app — actually alerts our administration, or whoever you decide to have setup on it, that somebody is vaping in the bathroom,” Health Safety and Security Director Danielle Elzayat said.
It all started as a pilot program at Dearborn High School in the spring of 2024. That program was funded through grant money.
Dearborn High School students said the detectors make the school feel safer and a better learning environment.
“These vape detectors have been so effective naturally, within a few weeks, we’ve seen a drastic decrease in the amount of notifications that we received,” said Assistant Principal Hussein Beydoun.
The detectors were such a success that the program was expanded and is now being funded with general fund dollars. Now vape detectors are being installed in restrooms in Fordson High School and Edsel Ford High School.
Dearborn High School now has 14 devices while Fordson is getting 22 and Edsel Ford is getting 16. However, they do come with a cost; each one is about $2,100.
Students who get caught vaping face a three-day suspension.