SRO reports vaping alerts down; board discusses education-first interventions

School Resource Officer Chad Barry told the IROQUOIS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Education that bathroom vaping alerts at the high school have declined from historical highs but remain a problem, and he described a mix of detection, education and counseling approaches the district is using to reduce incidents.

Barry told the board that in prior periods the high school saw roughly 80–100 detector alerts per day; on some recent days that number dropped into single digits. "I wish I could stand here and tell you that it's gone or it's eliminated, but I can't, right? It's still here," Barry said, describing progress but not elimination.

Multilayered strategy: Barry described a series of interventions that the district uses to identify and address vaping and related behaviors: vape detectors and fake detectors placed in bathrooms, camera review to match timestamps with hallway traffic, staff posted outside bathrooms during problem periods, random sweeps, and bus-camera monitoring that has helped identify incidents on buses. The district emphasizes education over punishment; Barry said first offenses aim for educational interventions and uses an evidence-based program called Catch My Breath. He also described a Horizon-provided counseling option that can be scheduled with parent and student consent.

Board discussion and possible expansion: Board members and administrators explored expanding the Catch My Breath sessions to middle-school health classes, bringing external speakers (doctors or recovered students) for assemblies, and evaluating new vendor platforms. Barry and board members cautioned that assemblies should complement — not replace — one-on-one programs, which Barry said produce the most candid conversations and behavior-change opportunities.

Emerging concerns: Barry flagged potent synthetic edibles as an emergent issue; he described a recent incident outside the district where a student became unresponsive after ingesting a synthetic edible and urged the district to account for non-nicotine substances when planning prevention and response.

Quote: "We try and reduce suspension time and educate students through programs like Catch My Breath," Barry said. "These programs help educate the students on the dangers of vaping while reducing suspension time."

What’s next: The board encouraged coordination between SROs, counselors and curriculum leaders to expand prevention efforts in classrooms and consider targeted assemblies; the board and administration also discussed maintaining and upgrading detector settings, cameras and decision rules for disciplinary follow-up. No new policy was adopted at the meeting; administrators and SROs will continue to refine the combination of detection technology and education.

Provenance: SRO presentation and board discussion on vaping and prevention programs (transcript segments covering the SRO report and follow-up questions).