There were 102 vaping incidents in Gilmer County Schools during the ’21-’22 academic year.
The Gilmer County Board of Education took steps to stifle the problem at its June 23 regular meeting. The board unanimously approved the purchase of a detection system produced by Verkada at a cost of $85,640, which will be paid for by CARES Act funds.
“This problem really is much more of a crisis than what anybody realizes,” assistant superintendent Dana Berry said last Tuesday. “It is far worse than the cigarette problems of the past as the amount of chemicals our students are ingesting when the vape is highly concentrated.
“I had never seen anyone overdose on THC (marijuana) in all of my law enforcement and teaching career until vapes came along.”
There were 47 vaping incidents at Gilmer High last school year, which accounted for 9 percent of discipline referrals. Six of those incidents were “drug related,” according to Berry. There were 51 vaping incidents at Clear Creek Middle (11.3 percent), and four more were “scattered among the three elementary schools.”
Berry said, “The fact that it’s appearing at our elementary schools shows how much of a prevalent problem this is.”
Berry oversees the system’s human resources, transportation, maintenance/facilities and safety and security and detailed the two main issues facing the district at the board’s May 31 called meeting.
“What’s happening, is these vapes are being flushed down the toilets and destroying our plumbing systems,” he said. “It’s beyond our maintenance capacity, and a lot of times we have to call people in to take care of it.”
He noted they spent approximately $8,028 from July ’21 through June ’22 to unclog sewer lines due to vape cartridges.
“This includes our employees’ labor, as well as a third party septic company,” Berry said. “Administrative costs, which are based on an average hourly wage, are over $3,000 (total at GHS and CCMS for the ’21-’22 school year) just to handle it. ”
Berry voiced concerns in regard to the effects of vaping on students’ health, especially when it comes to the potency of cartridges containing THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana.
“What I’ve personally experienced as a principal at a school, is there is something called ‘green out,’” he said. “In the old days, kids would smoke a joint. The THC in the vapes is highly concentrated and buried in that oil. It is so potent and concentrated that kids are overdosing on THC.
“As a principal, I saw it happen twice in one year. Having also worked on the street, I’d liken it to somebody being under the influence of ketamine, or PCP or LSD.”
The detection systems will be placed in rest rooms at GHS, CCMS and the Mountain Innovation Program and the Gilmer College and Career Academy, which are both located inside the Larry Walker Education Center. The system has the ability to detect nicotine from vaping and cigarette smoke, as well as THC.
Board chairman Ronald Watkins regaled those in attendance at the May 31 meeting with a tale from when he was a student at GHS in the 1970s. One of his fellow classmates finished smoking in the boys room as Watkins entered. By the time Watkins exited, a coach was waiting outside and pinned the incident on him.
Berry said they hope to avoid that as the system allows vaping or smoking to be addressed in real time. It communicates with administrators’ mobile phones, and they receive an alert when the detectors are triggered. They also receive a photo from cameras outside of the bathroom so they can narrow their search.
Verkada provided a test unit to the district toward the end of the ’21-’22 school year. It was placed in one bathroom at GHS and detected 16 vaping instances. Once confronted with the evidence, none of the students argued or denied vaping, according to Berry.
“This is a system we’ve tested that we know works,” he said. “We know we’re going to be able to save that money over time, but more importantly, it’s about the safety and security of our kids. They come to school, and parents expect us to police and take care of them.”
Verkada has the product on the shelf, and it is ready for delivery. Once received, the system will be installed by ETC. Included in the $85K price tag is a three-year license. Berry noted that Verkada is going to provide a free system to outfit Gilmer buses.