EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Socorro Independent School District Police are reminding parents that students who are caught vaping in school could face jail time.
“If they’re minors or they’re juveniles, they have to go to school. So that is one of the things every school district has. We have Keys Academy and Ysleta has Cesar Chavez and El Paso ISD has another one too,” said SISD Police Chief George Johnson.
Program Director Michelle Millen of Aliviane tells KTSM there has been a rise with 1,402 juvenile THC felony arrests in El Paso County. Those juvenile individuals range from 10 to 16 years old.
“From there, they’re processed through the system. Their paperwork is referred to the JPD at the Juvenile Probation Department. They’ll go to court in the juvenile court system, but during that time also they’ll be sent out to alternative school program the DAB,” said Johnson.
School officials report that students conceal flash drive-shaped vape devices while smoking.
“You could find marijuana cigarettes and you can find THC vape cartridges and they’re up to 60 to 70 percent THC, which is the equivalent of what might’ve been 10 joints in the past,” said Johnson.
He added that as young as 10-year-olds have possessed THC concentrate.
As for high school students, alternative schools such as Keys Academy have been a result of one too many penalties.
