District officials told the board they are putting together a multi-pronged plan to address student vaping after staff and trustees raised ongoing concerns about vaping in school bathrooms and vaping incidents that triggered alarms.

The superintendent said the district is focusing on prevention rather than only punitive measures. “The problem isn't the door. The problem is the vaping,” the superintendent said while describing a coordinated approach that includes family communication, parent nights, community organization partnerships and restorative interventions.

The district described working groups that include principals, health and physical education staff, the director of safety and prevention and student-support counselors. Officials said they will use communications to families, bring in community-based partners and pursue restorative approaches as alternatives to sending students home.

Board members asked whether opening bathroom doors reduced vaping; district staff said they did not have quantitative data on the impact of that measure. One trustee asked about detection technologies; district staff noted many modern vaping devices contain nonmetal components and are not reliably detected by metal detectors.

The district said it will partner with community and government organizations to expand outreach and will try to track attendance and subgroup data closely to detect any emerging attendance patterns. School staff will also offer additional programming and counseling for students identified as vaping.

No new discipline policy or equipment purchases were adopted during the meeting; the board directed district staff to return with more detailed proposals and data.