COLORADO SPRINGS — Several local school districts are trying to combat the teen vaping problem this upcoming school year. D2, D8, D49 and D70 received more than $639,000 combined from the state's Juul lawsuit settlement.
I looked into several studies and surveys about the vaping problems in our area. The Healthy Kids of Colorado survey reported 14% of high school students in Pueblo County regularly vaped in 2023.
When I looked for that number for El Paso County, not enough school districts participated in the surveys to get accurate data since 2019.
So I went directly to our school districts.
With parent permission, I spoke with an upcoming D2 Harrison High School junior, Owen Smith. I asked him what percent of his class he thinks vapes.
"In general, I'd say like 30."
Smith is pretty spot on.
D2's mental health services coordinator, Jamie Montoya-De Smidt, said 29% of high schoolers reported using E-cig vaping devices last year.
"The majority are high school students, but we do have some middle school students and to be very transparent, we even have some elementary students that end up using E-cig vaping devices," said Smidt.
I previously reported D2 installed vape smoke detectors in bathrooms three years ago. The Sierra High School principal said he gets an email every time one goes off, which is about 15 times a day.
D2 is getting more than $253,000 from the state to try to stop this problem.
"I think what we're excited about is we're going to be able to contract for a substance-use counselor to work with students who might already be using," said Smidt.
Smidt said the kids who vape have a higher risk of using other drugs.
Smith said he already sees that happening. "A lot of people struggle to get off of it and it's like if people are already struggling with nicotine, it's like when they move on to harder drugs, it's going to be even harder."
Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8 is getting more than $131,000.
Its deputy superintendent, Montina Romero, said 1% of students were caught vaping last year, "but we also know we don't know everything but that's already too many, so we want to make sure that number doesn't increase."
Romero said the district is creating a youth council, full of students to develop preventative programs teens can relate to.
"We have heard from students that they don't want to go to the restroom, well we want to solve that, want to make sure that all students feel safe at school," said Romero.
Smith told me those who vape at his school, do not impact his class work. "At the end of the day, it's just kids, it's just people damaging themselves so it's not really affecting other people."
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