Volusia schools, sheriff's office combat student vaping after referrals rise

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Florida. – New data is available and Central Florida school districts have reported a significant increase in student vaping issues on campus in 2024 compared to 2023.

Districts based the data on the number of referrals issued over a three-month period.

Volusia County schools, in particular, reported an 80% increase. The district said it issued 289 referrals in 2023 from January through the end of March, and in 2024 it had handed out 521 during the same period.

“We've integrated technology into our schools, like vape detectors, so that our administrative team has a weapon to use to know what's going on,” district spokesman Greg Trechetta said.

Trechetta said the higher baseline numbers mean the technology works, but more teens are vaping.

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“It’s not healthy and it’s a matter of discipline. If you get arrested multiple times in a high school for this, you risk suspension or expulsion, so now your little habits have turned into a life-changing event,” he said.

The district said technology and discipline only go so far at this point.

“Sending kids home to vape leads to them vaping at home, so it’s not necessarily the best solution,” he said.

The district is currently working with the State Attorney's Office to launch a new educational campaign in the fall.

And starting in August, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said his office will bring back the DARE program to hopefully drill into students' minds the dangers of nicotine addiction and what's actually in vaping let them get off the street.

“The answer, in my opinion, is more parents becoming parents and more education,” he said. “The overwhelming majority of these kids test positive for THC oil, but in that THC oil we also find traces of fentanyl, traces of methamphetamine, traces of heroin.”

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