Northern Ont. school board touts success of putting vape detectors in washrooms

A school board in northern Ontario is leading the way in reducing vaping in schools -- and the rest of the province in taking notice.

After noticing an increase in vaping following the pandemic, the Near North District School Board conducted a pilot project last year, installing vape detectors in washrooms at Almaguin Highlands Secondary School.

The wireless detectors look similar to a smoke alarm and send a signal to the principal’s phone when vape is detected.

The project resulted in a reduction of vaping at the school and the board now plans to install similar detectors at six other secondary schools.

“Other school boards could use this as a blueprint for moving forward,” said Emily Samuel, the board’s principal of safe schools.

Last month, the provincial budget included $30 million for the Ministry of Education to support health and safety in schools, including installing vape detectors.

After noticing an increase in vaping following the pandemic, the Near North District School Board conducted a pilot project last year, installing vape detectors in washrooms at Almaguin Highlands Secondary School. (File)

“Certainly, I think the money that they’ve allocated to it this time demonstrates the urgency that we need to have in addressing this issue because it is really becoming a crisis among youth,” Samuel said.

Samuel said before the detectors were installed at Almaguin Highlands, a number of students didn’t feel safe using the washroom at the school.

“They weren’t sure if they walked into a washroom if there would be 12 or 15 other students there congregating if those students would be vaping. They had concerns with breathing that vape in,” she said.

“So this has actually been welcomed by many students because now they can go to the washroom and feel reassured that they are there for the purpose of the washroom and are not going to find themselves in a situation where they’re in a crowded space.”

Samuel said that the vape detectors have not yet been installed in the other six schools yet, but the respective school administration will meet with the student body to talk to them about vaping, its harms and what they could do to quit.

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“It’s the beginning of an ongoing conversation that we have with them,” she said.

School boards across the province have yet to receive specific details or directions from the ministry on the new funding.