Milford High School administrators told the School Committee on May 1 that restroom vaping and periodic vandalism remain persistent problems and that school leaders believe adding regular staff supervision in restrooms is the most effective strategy to deter those behaviors.

“​​This is a very safe school,” the high school administrator told the committee, but he said the building also experiences recurring incidents, primarily vaping and some vandalism in restrooms. The principal said current coverage includes three part‑time campus aides (about 17 hours each), a full‑time greeter, an SRO on campus most school hours and staggered schedules that leave gaps in coverage when an aide calls out. “I believe at this stage that the best strategy for us to address these challenges here in schools [is] higher levels of staff supervision,” he said.

Administrators described the staffing shortfall in practical terms: three part‑time aides working roughly 17 hours a week equates to about one full‑time equivalent; the principal said his budget request seeks three full‑time campus aides to provide consistent restroom and hall coverage and to reduce opportunities for misconduct. A board member said the FY request for three campus aides had been estimated at about $80,000; the principal said earlier budget requests for the same positions had been submitted in previous years but not funded.

School leaders described existing safety measures: an active camera system that is regularly upgraded, monitoring software that scans district‑issued devices and network activity, teacher duty assignments for lunch and directed study, and a school resource officer who is on campus most of the time. Staff said bathrooms are cleaned once daily in the evening and that vandalism is often discovered during custodial rounds, which limits the school’s ability to use cameras to identify the responsible students because the incident may have occurred hours earlier.

The committee explored alternatives and short‑term pilots. Members asked the facilities director to begin tracking restroom‑related maintenance calls and repair invoices so the district can quantify custodial and contractor costs tied to vandalism. Committee members suggested possible low‑cost deterrents — electric hand dryers instead of paper towels, increased staff walk‑throughs, and short‑term scheduling experiments — and asked staff to test some measures before advancing a full staffing request in the next budget cycle.

The principal discussed vape‑detector devices and reported mixed experiences from other districts: false alarms (for example, triggered by body spray) can overwhelm staff and reduce deterrent value. He also said the district enforces consequences for students found with controlled substances on campus and that the school issues suspensions for possession of controlled substances when appropriate. “Our approach is very, very firm compared to the norms in Massachusetts public high schools in the region,” he said.

No formal hiring vote occurred; the committee asked administration to pilot targeted measures over the remaining weeks of the school year, to return with data on custodial/repair costs, and to report results and any recommended staffing requests during the summer or the next budget season.

Committee members asked administrators to focus pilots on times and locations with the most reports and to include students, the SRO and facilities staff in prevention planning. The district also committed to provide a follow‑up memo to the committee on incident counts, discipline referrals for vaping, and any repeat offenders identified through camera footage or other investigations.