High school vape sensors trigger 'thousands' of false alarms at MCPS schools
High school vape sensors trigger 'thousands' of false alarms
In June, Montgomery County Public Schools administrators reported myriad complaints about HALO Smart Sensors that were placed in high school bathrooms including getting inundated with hundreds ? sometimes thousands ? of alerts in a single day.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - In June, Montgomery County Public Schools administrators reported myriad complaints about HALO Smart Sensors that were placed in high school bathrooms including getting inundated with hundreds — sometimes thousands — of alerts in a single day.
What we know:
The Montgomery County Council approved spending two million dollars on the sensors in October. The money came from a settlement with popular e-cigarette maker, Juul, to resolve allegations that they marketed to children. MCPS completed installation in May. The school board solicited feedback from school leaders in June and detailed the responses in a report.
"The name of the vape sensor does not include the actual location, so we are unable to respond in a timely manner or at all. In the short time that we have gotten them, I have already received 3,500+ email notifications and have stopped responding or viewing," one anonymous respondent said.
They also reported false alarms from toilets flushing, spraying perfume, or mere movement near the sensor unrelated to vaping.
Scott Webber prioritizes harm reduction, so he believes that vapes are a better alternative to cigarettes, although still not ideal. He opposed the sensors before the county council. "It's just squandered, Webber said of the money allotted by the council. "I mean, there's a total waste that anybody who knows anything about vaping would have stopped from the very beginning. I did bring it up to… about all the members of the county council, and including our president at the point, Andrew Friedson, they said, listen, you know, it's $2 million, it's free."
Survey respondents also say that students have simply moved locations — choosing to vape in the stairwell instead of the bathroom.
HALO Smart Sensor parent company Motorola Solutions says: "Occurrences of false positives with Halo Smart Sensors are rare following the recommended installation and calibration process. In this case, a survey was conducted prior to full calibration of the system and is therefore not representative of product performance.
Thousands of schools throughout the country have installed Motorola Solutions’ Halo Smart Sensors to help deter and detect vaping. When coupled with video security systems, schools can get a holistic view of health and safety issues to better protect their students and staff."