Batavia City Schools is slated to receive $35,000 as part of a class action lawsuit that was settled with Juul Labs, Inc. for $3.6 million for its alleged participation in marketing vaping products to children.
The settlement with 143 school districts and BOCES throughout New York State was announced Tuesday. The lawsuit alleged that Juul Labs, makers of popular vaping products, “fraudulently and intentionally marketed” the products to children.
“We sadly have students that vape, and of course it is detrimental to their overall health and well being,” Batavia Superintendent Jason Smith said to The Batavian. “This lawsuit represented an opportunity for the District to perhaps ‘right some wrongs’ on behalf of our students.”
Smith did not elaborate on the specifics of how the negative effects of vaping were assessed, as asked by The Batavian.
The city school district has been monitoring bathroom use at the high school, Smith said, and using vaping detectors. Bathroom doors are locked for maintenance and cleaning reasons when needed during the school day, but “that is the only time,” he said. The Batavian asked about locking the bathroom doors in response to receiving some anonymous complaints from the public.
The $35,000 from lawsuit proceeds will be invested in “our preventative and restorative program called VAPE University.”
“It is essentially a program that we pair with traditional consequences for students who have violated the Code of Conduct with respect to vaping,” he said.
BHS Principal Paul Kesler added that Vape University is a program that’s being piloted “to help students with positive replacement behaviors if they are stuggling with quitting vaping.”
“We are hoping that parents will reach out to us if they have concerns with their child vaping so we can proactively help students before they would be caught vaping at school,” Kesler said.
The news release issued Tuesday named Ferrara Fiorenza PC as the plaintiff attorneys representing the school districts in the lawsuit, coordinated with firm partner Jeffrey Lewis in joining a mass tort action seeking recovery for past and future damages relating to student vaping, including money spent on vaping-related issues on campus.
“Vaping among children is an extremely harmful and pervasive problem that our school district clients are facing every day,” Managing Partner Joseph Shields said in the release. “We were thrilled that 143 of our clients opted to stand together and join this mass-action lawsuit to advocate for students and taxpayers throughout the state. This settlement will go a long way in helping our communities, and school districts develop the resources needed to combat the student vaping epidemic.”
The settlement provides resources for schools to fund future expenses, for example, the cost of installing vape detectors in district bathrooms, hiring additional staff to supervise vaping areas on campus, hiring additional counselors to deal with well-documented social and emotional issues associated with nicotine addiction, and developing and operating educational programs about the harms of vaping.
Does Smith believe the district can make an impact on students’ vaping behavior?
“Of course, we always believe that, and that is a core mission--to impact positive change for students,” he said. “Families are encouraged to be part of this process, and their feedback is always welcomed.”
File photo of Jason Smith from Batavia City Schools.
