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OCPS plans card readers, vape detectors and restroom changes under safety initiative
Summary
Facilities staff outlined district-wide safety and access projects including card-reader installs prompted by state law, vape-detector deployments in student restrooms, and a program to add unisex restrooms when feasible.
At the May 13 Orange County School Board work session, facilities staff briefed trustees on district-wide safety and access initiatives the district expects to install in phases across campuses.
The updates are part of the district's response to recent state requirements and local safety priorities and affect high schools, middle schools, K-8s and elementary schools in different phases.
Mike Winter, program director, said the district has prioritized installation of card readers on exterior doors that open into interior campus areas in response to 2024 school-safety legislation. "To provide relief to as many schools as possible as quickly as possible, we are limiting the initial expansion to providing card reader access to one door to each classroom building or floor," Winter said. He estimated 8'13 card readers per high school and 7— per middle school for the first phase and said high-school installations are expected to be completed before the 2025-26 school year.
Winter also outlined a campus-wide program to install tamper-resistant vape-detection devices in student restrooms at high, middle and K-8 schools (grades 6—2) and alternative and ESE schools (grades 6—2). The district plans to install roughly 3,000 devices and said implementation will be funded in part with JUUL settlement funds.
Separately, staff said the district will add unisex inclusive restrooms over multiple years, beginning with a pilot at three high schools and then assessing middle and elementary campuses to identify available single-stall restrooms that can be repurposed. Winter noted code requirements still necessitate a minimum number of gender-specific fixtures, so unisex conversions are being undertaken where excess single stalls exist.
Board members asked about schedule, cost and communications to schools; staff said they will use the facilities project dashboard to publish project managers and status for each campus. No formal board action occurred at the work session.
