Butler County school districts use $512K in Juul settlement funding on detection, prevention
Eight school districts in Butler County received more than $512,000 from a settlement paid by Juul and its former owner Altria after a class-action lawsuit found that the company was intentionally and harmfully marketing e-cigarettes to youth.
Butler Area School District received $129,077; Freeport Area School District received $13,359; Karns City Area School District received $33,978; Knoch School District received $47,817; Mars Area School District received $70,719; Moniteau School District received $28,396; Seneca Valley School District received $146,050; and Slippery Rock Area School District received $43,228, according to Tom King, partner with Dillon McCandless King Coulter & Graham.
The law firm represented the Butler County districts, plus many others in Western Pennsylvania. Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District, which includes Butler County’s Allegheny Township, was not a part of the lawsuit.
As per the terms of the payout, money from the suit can be used by school districts on research-based awareness and prevention programs, according to Alfonso Angelucci, superintendent of Slippery Rock Area School District.
King said the money is being sent out in installments over a four-year period. Altria will begin sending payments this summer, and they will also be spread out over installments.
Some school districts have already used money, but others are still looking at the possibilities, like Slippery Rock.
“We are exploring how best to use the initial money that we received,” Angelucci said.
Other school districts, including Seneca Valley and Karns City, are putting the money toward vapor detectors, to catch students using e-cigarette products in school buildings.
“We upgraded all of our vape detectors in our schools and have been proactive in educating both our students and parents on the dangers of vaping,” said Tracy Vitale, superintendent of Seneca Valley School District.
Eric Ritzert, superintendent of Karns City Area School District, said the district has also invested in the installation of vapor detectors to deter vaping in schools.
Brian White, superintendent of Butler Area School District, said district administrators plan to use the funds it received from the lawsuit next year, after developing a strategy to spend the funds over the coming summer.
Vitale said Seneca Valley administrators see illicit substance use by students as a safety issue, and students who partake in their use are disciplined according to the district’s drug policy.
“We have a discipline policy that we follow that outlines each type of violation and levels,” she said. “Seneca Valley is very strict about drugs and alcohol coming into our schools. It is dangerous for the child and to other children.”
King said in an email the Butler firm was assisted in California by the Frantz Law firm in San Francisco amid the suit. All of the cases were originally filed in federal court in Pittsburgh and then transferred to the federal court in San Francisco, according to King.
