In light of a recent school division settlement agreement with a vape company, FCPS gained $3.2 million in unallocated funds. FCPS sued Juul alongside other school divisions in 2022 over student addiction to the company’s products, with the closed-doors compensation agreement being reached in September of last year.

“It would make sense if that money was spent on vape detectors in the bathroom, but otherwise, school safety is a good way to spend it,” FCPS substitute teacher Eren Parla said.

While vape sensors have been tested in recent years, the system has generally not progressed into widespread use. A school safety technology pilot presentation was recommended to the board on March 7, with very little information available to the public as of now.

“Security is always a good use of money, but we could also use it for renovations and some more things,” senior Grant Deager said. “I have no clue how it would look next year [if there were] new security [systems].”

FCPS has generally maintained high security for schools, with little school shooting and threat incidents compared to other regions of the country.

“The county seems pretty safe to me at the moment, but it’s great to see that the county is doing more to keep students safe,” Parla said. “I think it could be a good deterrent against school shooting”