VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – School district leaders in Volusia are cracking down and harshening the punishment for students caught vaping.
Now, students caught with a vape will have to take a nine-week intensive course or they will have to go to an alternative learning school.
The district told News 6 on Thursday that 117 students have been caught with vapes on campuses so far this school year.
Right after Labor Day, the district rolled out the new program called “Volusia Assistance & Prevention Education” or “V.A.P.E.” and since then, said every student caught has opted to take it.
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“Actually, as of this morning when I re-polled it, we have 47 students enrolled in our V.A.P.E. Course,” said Mike Micallef, the district’s Executive Director for Graduation Assurance and Student Services.
Micallef said students are finding new ways to disguise vapes and administrators are keeping up to catch them, but he said the consequences needed to change.
“I don’t think any district has done anything like this to think about this approach of it,” Micallef said. “Instead of giving something punitive, we’re looking to change the outcome.”
With the consent of their parents, If students are found with vapes they can take the course that teaches the dangers of vaping and mental health.
“It’s outside of the school day so they have to do this on their own time,” Micallef said. “It includes at least one counseling session with a school counselor, they have to complete it throughout their nine weeks. Failure to complete this course during the time frame will result in alternative placement or off-campus instruction.”
Students also have to submit their notes they take during the course.
“They would answer their questions, they would upload their results and then we would grade them. They would have to get 10 out of 10 points for everything. So, they would have to get 100 percent,” Micallef said.
At the end, the student has to give a presentation to their peers.
If the parent doesn’t give consent for the program, the student will go to an alternative learning school, but Micallef said that hasn’t happened so far.
“We’ve actually had parents reach out to us to ask if they can enroll their student into the vaping program without even being caught,” Micallef said.
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