In an effort to curb teens’ illegal activity throughout Beaumont Independent School District’s (BISD) secondary school campus bathrooms, trustees are mulling the purchase of more than 100 sensors that can detect and alert administrators to smoking, vaping and noise from the near-constant violence that students say is constraining their scholastic pursuits.
The district is investigating the pros and cons of the so-called smart sensors, which purportedly detect vaping, smoking, noises that might indicate a fight, as well as environmental contaminants.
According to BISD Director of Technology Toni McPhearson, the sensors “can distinguish (an) attempt to mask” vapor and smoke, use decibel settings for noise detection and monitors for changes in environmental factors, including temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The sensors can then send alerts to users via email, text or through an online dashboard.
McPhearson said the cost for each device ranges from $1,050 to $1,350, with additional costs including licensing, mounting hardware and cabling – bringing the total cost to $250,000 for 120 devices. That’s enough devices to cover Beaumont United, Early College and West Brook high schools, as well as the Paul Brown and Pathways learning centers.
“That would include all the bathrooms on campus, as well as the locker rooms at each of those campuses,” she said.
“My concern wasn’t really with all the high schools,” said Trustee Joe Evans, who, along with Trustee Tillie Hickman, called for the item. “So, for example at Pathways I don’t think the students get to just have autonomy to go to and from the restroom. I think it’s always a controlled situation.
“I don’t think (Melanie) Pharis has seen the problem on her campus (Early College High School) that we’ve seen on other campuses.”
That’s when the principal interjected from the crowd to disagree.
“You are?” Evans asked.
“Vaping is everywhere,” Pharis offered.
“Vaping is a problem everywhere, too?” Evans asked. “Well, you do a good job because the media doesn’t get your school, so you be quiet about that.”
As the audience stopped laughing, Evans continued, “I was just about to talk so good about (Joseph) Bowser (principal at Pathways) and (Calvin) Rice (principal at Paul Brown), but obviously … ”
Another trustee questioned what would happen if a student attempted to tamper with the devices, to which McPhearson responded, “All of the devices that we’re looking at have a tampering monitor,” explaining that the devices will emit a buzzing noise if tampering occurs.
“I absolutely love this product,” opined Trustee Stacey Lewis Jr. “I was introduced to it last year, and I’m happy that the board is having discussions about bringing it. I think the most important thing about this is that there are certain keywords like ‘help’ that sends alerts. Sometimes all we think about is violent incidents. What happens when we have seizures? What happens when there are other anomalies that happen in the bathrooms?
Lewis said he’d like to see the program extend beyond the bathroom and into the classroom, explaining that the district would be better off if administrators could more quickly react to issues.
“Whether or not it will change behavior, I don’t know,” offered Trustee Hickman. “But it at least makes us feel better about trying to change behavior.”
McPhearson ended her address by telling BISD trustees she’s looking into three providers to evaluate performances and determine which would most benefit the school district.
“We’re looking at three industry leaders for performance. I’m ordering one of each of those devices to see how well they perform at each of those factors: noise, contaminants, vaping,” she said. “We’re looking at piloting those over the next three weeks to see which product we want to go with.”