MELBOURNE, Fla. – Melbourne High School is adding another method to combat student vaping at the school.
Principal Chad Kirk said in an email to parents that starting Monday, hand-held metal detecting wands will be used as an option to search students.
This comes weeks after the principal announced the school would close and lock four of the 11 restrooms on campus to “reduce opportunities for misconduct.”
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Kimberly Serwin, whose daughter is a senior at the school, said the limited access has made the school day more stressful.
“She’s talked to me about it,” Serwin said. “She says it complicates things. She has to worry about how many passes she has in each class just to use the restroom, because there’s not enough time in between.”
Parents said the policy punishes students who follow the rules rather than addressing the root of the problem.
“Don’t punish the children that need to use the restroom,” Serwin said. “Go after the students that are bringing in the vapes.”
Your Melbourne Community Correspondent James Sparvero asked school board chairman Matt Susin whether the measures are fair to students who don’t vape.
“What we wanna do is find a way to make sure that those kids are able to use those restrooms and they’re not gonna be inhibited by a couple of kids who wanna make a decision, to make a poor decision, to go ahead and vape,” Susin said.
The district is considering putting vaping sensors in bathrooms.
Susin said board members hope to find out which devices could be used in the next month.
Stick with News 6 and ClickOrlando.com for all updates.