Officials with the Anaheim Union High School District are installing vaping sensors at two schools in the hopes that they will prevent students from smoking and vaping on campus.
The two educational institutions are Cypress and Loara high schools, and the sensors will be set up in restrooms and locker rooms across the two campuses.
School board members unanimously approved the purchase of the detectors at a March 6 board meeting. According to the agenda from that meeting, the total cost of the program’s first year is $75,120; the price tag includes equipment, software, installation and taxes for both schools.
After 2025, the program will cost the district $4,023 per year for both schools.
Speaking to Voice of OC, AUHSD spokesperson John Bautista said that the sensors chosen by the district, called HALO, can “differentiate between vaping, vaping with THC and intentionally masking vaping behavior by using aerosols.”
The sensors should last roughly seven years, Bautista said.
The technology also integrates directly with the schools’ existing security systems, AUHSD’s agenda states. That said, Assistant Superintendent Jaron Fried emphasized at the board meeting that the sensors themselves do not have cameras and will not violate privacy laws.
Instead, the sensors will work alongside the already available security cameras placed outside to help with the identification of the student if staff do not reach the location in time.
