Alabama high school removes bathroom stall doors to prevent vaping

FLORENCE, Ala. — Smoking in school bathrooms has been a problem for years. Vaping adds a new headache for administrators, but a northern Alabama high school is taking a proactive -- and controversial -- approach.

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Administrators at Wilson High School in Florence have removed the doors of bathroom stalls in the boys' bathrooms, WAFF reported.

The move came after Principal Gary Horton said a student was found passed out in a stall after vaping, the television station reported. The principal said to curtail the surreptitious breaks, the best solution was to remove the doors to some stalls.

Some parents are not happy with the decision.

"Me, as a parent, personally, I think that's a little excessive," Brandon Campbell told WAFF.

“I don’t like it. They take their only private place in the school that they can do their business,” Rachel Munsey told the television station.

Munsey said a better solution might have been putting monitors in the bathroom

"(If there is a) bad vaping problem, then you need spotters in the bathroom. You need someone adult to go in there to make sure there's not any vaping going on," Munsey told WAFF

Horton told the television station the removal of the stall doors may be temporary as administrators attempt to find a solution. He did not say why only boys' bathrooms were targeted.

Cox Media Group