Parents press board over student vaping and bullying; district describes how bathroom vaping sensors notify staff

A parent told the Port Orford‑Langlois SD 2CJ board in public comment that student vaping and a related bullying incident in school bathrooms have been ongoing and that prior emails to staff produced insufficient response.

"I'm here about the vaping that's been going on all year and I'm very concerned about it," the parent said during the public‑comment period, describing a situation she said involved harassment in locker rooms and repeated vaping incidents reported to staff without resolution.

District technology lead Rusty and school administrators responded that the district uses environmental vape sensors in restrooms and locker rooms that detect changes in temperature and humidity and send timestamped reports (time, duration, temperature change) by email and phone to administrators. "They are sensors," Rusty said. "They go off when there's a change in temperature and there's a change in humidity ... and then they send an email report of the time, the temperature change and the duration of the event." He added the system does not produce an audible alarm inside bathrooms.

Administrators said sensor notifications are used to identify events, determine timing and duration, and then staff attempts to identify and work with the students involved and their families. The board advised the public commenter to follow district complaint policy KL if she wishes to pursue a formal grievance about staff handling of the incident and offered a staff follow‑up appointment.

The board debated whether to grant additional public‑comment time and declined, noting a desire to keep a consistent three‑minute rule and to treat individual personnel or student matters through established complaint channels. Board members emphasized the need to follow the district's grievance process so sensitive personnel or student matters can be handled appropriately and, where necessary, in executive session.

Next steps: administration offered to meet with the parent to review the incident and outlined that sensor alerts are routed to administrators for investigation and follow‑up.