“Never to this extent”: Rampant Vaping and Vandalism at Leonia High School

Leonia High School's uphill battle against vaping and vandalism has shown limited success and, at times, exacerbated disruptions to student life.

In response to years of complaints from students and parents about vaping and vandalism, the administration closed all but two bathrooms and limited their capacity.

This article was researched over two academic years and contains interviews and photographs from both.

“When I was a kid, it wasn’t really like this,” said Lou DeJesus, a Leonia High School graduate and custodian since 2015. “There were messes on the floor, but it was never to this extent.” Mr. DeJesus works the day shift at Leonia, but has several years of experience working with the night crew, the team responsible for cleaning up the bathrooms. Still, he is called into the bathrooms during the school day at least once per week when messes are reported, which usually entails removing toilet paper trashing the floor or clogging the urinals and sinks.

Vaping serves as a bonding activity between friends. Groups of five to fifteen gather and generate thick clouds of aerosol mist, leaving vape products scattered about. Just as these friend groups vape together, they eat in the bathrooms and vandalize them together too. Bathroom assemblies leave behind potato chip bags, water bottles, soda cans, and lollipop wrappers. Entire rolls of toilet paper are ripped from their dispensers and thrown into the bowl. The smell that accumulates from lingering food waste, human waste, and vape odor abounds.

Boys bathroom sinks, urinals, and toilets filled with garbage; girls bathrooms littered with graffiti and feminine products.

“That’s common,” Mr. DeJesus reacted to the images above. Pointing out the broken toilet paper dispenser, he added, “That’s a waste. These should have locks on there. Sometimes kids break it. And we don’t have much toilet paper in the school here. We get a certain amount per year, so that’s wasting two weeks right there.” At times, Leonia High School’s yearly toilet paper supply has been exhausted by excessive toilet paper waste: “We run out. We used to borrow from the middle school.” Abuse of toilet paper is “more of a pain” for custodians like Mr. DeJesus because it often causes flooding.

“A lot of kids don’t understand what it is to even clean their room,” said Anthony Penn, a music teacher at Leonia High School, looking at the state of the bathrooms depicted above. “These are just people being selfish and foolish and are not aware that a human being, a man or a woman, is going to go into here and pick up the garbage.”

Mr. Penn recounted a recent encounter he had with a vaper. “I was covering a class,” he said, “I had turned my head, and then I turned my head back probably within 2 to 3 seconds, and there was a puff of vape coming out of this person’s mouth…I stared at them with my mouth open for about 30 seconds; their face turned white.” Mr. Penn wrote the student up for the infraction.

Disposable vape pens from Muha Meds, Unipuff, Lava Plus, RIPS, GEEK BAR, and Ace Ultra Premium; edibles from Loud Snackz.

“This is common,” Mr. DeJesus repeated, seeing images of disposable vape pens left behind in the bathrooms. “I used to do the boys locker room—I used to work nights—I would find all sorts of vapes inside…back in ‘96, when I graduated, it was cigarettes.”

In these particular photographs, Ace Ultra Minis Gen 3 disposable vape pens from the unlicensed weed shop Ace Ultra Premium were used. Purchases from Ace Ultra Premium cannot be made directly. Instead, they must be contacted through Instagram or Telegram. Ace Ultra Premium is not a licensed cannabis dispensary in the state of New Jersey, nor is it a registered business.

Muha Meds is another popular source of cannabis. Muha Meds, like Ace Ultra Premium, is neither a licensed cannabis dispensary nor a registered business in New Jersey. They formerly held a license to sell cannabis products in Michigan, but in 2023, Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency suspended their license due to safety issues.

In New Jersey, recreational cannabis is only legal for people 21 years and older. Because students are underage, they must obtain their cannabis from the black market, either through informal online platforms or peer networks.

Junior Daniel Hussein recalled drug use in the Leonia School District before high school: “I remember being astonished at everyone vaping the minute we got into middle school. Vaping wasn’t even the worst of it…People went from vaping to drinking and to smoking weed and experimenting with drugs. The fact that people were so quick to ruin their body just to feel cool was honestly the worst part.”

Nationwide, the CDC reports that 1 in 10 high school students use tobacco products, most commonly e-cigarettes. A study in New Jersey, however, found that as many as 25% of adolescents were vaping.

Degradation of Student Life

“They smoke in my face and they smoke in people's faces,” said senior Sean Park, expressing frustration. “Tell [the] principal…tell the counselors about the problem,” he urged fellow students. “They should able to tell they’re sorry because they vaped in my face. They should never do that again.”

The boys central wing bathroom is informally known as “hot boy” among vapers due to the impact vaping has on air temperature and quality in the confined space.

Partying in the girls central wing bathroom, with vape pens and a bubble machine visible, 2023–2024: https://youtube.com/shorts/kpk9dHid5N0?si=LqlPpb_ia1wVbh0a.

Senior Peter Pan described the central wing bathroom as on average crowded with “six to seven people” loitering and vaping. “They bring food in there and play loud music,” Pan said, describing “parties” he had observed. “You can’t even move—you need to squeeze in.” However, he noted a slight improvement since the graduation of last year’s seniors.

“The central wing bathroom is worse,” agreed an anonymous junior who shared her perspective on the girls' bathrooms. “Yesterday, I just saw feminine products, like pads and tampons, on the walls—they wet it and throw it at the wall.”

“Throughout the whole day,” she continued, “it’s packed with females smoking and doing drugs.” How many? “Seven to ten.” Vapers often gather around the sink, distributing “smoking devices like their cards and their vapes,” blocking access. “If I go in that bathroom and it’s packed with people, I won’t use it,” she explained. The student recognized Lava Plus and Muha Meds as the most common brands.

However, not all students are bothered by the vaping at Leonia High School. One junior expressed indifference, stating, “I mean, like me personally, I don’t vape—why am I gonna prevent others from doing it?” They mentioned that students vaping in the bathrooms have been considerate towards others present in the stalls—that some have asked if it was alright if they vaped because they didn’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable.

Students evacuate during finals weeks.

Last year, fire alarms sounded numerous times unexpectedly, including during finals week. There are unconfirmed reports that vaping triggered the alarms on multiple occasions.

Minga: The Newest Weapon in the Administration’s War on Bathroom Misconduct

For several years, Leonia High School’s administration directed teachers and faculty, including the former vice principal, Mark Sernatinger, to intermittently walk into the bathrooms to evict vapers. More recently, the administration revived anti-vaping efforts with the implementation of Minga, a hall pass software designed to limit the abuse of the bathrooms and other school facilities.

Minga claims to “reduce bathroom vaping and vandalism by up to 85%,” and to “reduce tardies by 50% in 8 weeks.” Using a digital points and rewards system, Minga's self-described “gamified approach” seeks to create “a powerful, self-reinforcing feedback loop that continually encourages positive behavior.” Though the administration has embraced the promotional narrative, Minga’s promise to streamline respect and cooperation goes unfulfilled at Leonia High School.

One student, who has been vaping for “four years, since freshman year,” spoke on the condition of anonymity. They confirmed that the administration’s undertakings against vaping during this time frame have been ineffective, stating that they vape once a day and have never been caught, “cause they can’t supervise the bathrooms, they can’t check.” When asked if their vaping habits have been at all affected by Minga, they responded with a simple “No.”

Vaping and vandalism, though widespread at Leonia High School, are less prevalent at some schools. “We do not use any digital tools like Minga to monitor students [at my new school],” reported one teacher who recently left Leonia High School, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “We aren’t strict about teachers writing a pass when sending a student to a destination.” Despite comparatively relaxed measures, they commented that the state of Leonia High School’s bathrooms “does not match…the state of the bathrooms at my school,” attributing the cleanliness of their current private school’s bathrooms to a “healthy level of respect” between students and teachers, as well as the efforts of their custodial staff.

Charles Kalender Walks Out of “Slanted” Interview

Principal Charles Kalender insisted that he be interviewed this year to give the administration’s perspective following the publication of an earlier article covering the bathrooms that he objected to as “slanted” and a “hit piece.”

On September 26, Principal Kalender canceled an interview scheduled nine days in advance immediately before it was set to take place. He suggested rescheduling to September 27, but did not show up. Principal Kalender sat down for an interview ten days later, but refused to continue after answering three questions, two about his employment history at Leonia High School and one about the emergence of vaping. He stopped the interview, stating that he felt disrespected and expressing fears that the interview would be “slanted.” He asked to be provided the questions in advance, but declined ten minutes to review the questions, adding that future interviews needed to be conducted in writing and not recorded before leaving.

Afterwards, he provided a written statement:

“Leonia High School takes an active and positive approach regarding all student behavior. From time to time, we need to address poor choices by our students. Those choices, however, are rare amongst our students. It would be a mistake to paint all of our student body with a broad brush. We are proud of the hundreds of students who arrive every day prepared and ready to learn. We will remain vigilant and use our current resources to address these issues. It is important to note however that no amount of supervision will eliminate negative behavior and we encourage our students and their families to have direct and honest conversations regarding personal choice. I encourage students to speak up about any issues they observe and to treat shared spaces with respect. Together, we can restore a positive and safe environment for everyone at LHS.”

Bathroom Closures

On November 21, 2024, Principal Charles Kalender and Vice Principal Anthony Servis announced the closure of all but two of the school’s bathrooms in a tense assembly with the senior class. The gender neutral and central wing bathrooms will be “available for sign in sign out,” declared Principal Kalender, “and that’s the way it’s going to stay for the immediate future.”

“We had people in the boys’ bathroom chanting,” proclaimed Vice Principal Servis, causing students to laugh. “Yeah, you guys think it’s funny, but that’s why the bathrooms are closed…[We had people] disturbing classrooms, throwing food in the urinal—like you’re two years old—leaving paper towels all over the place.”

“And I know some people are going to say it’s only a small percentage of kids. Again, welcome to the real world.”

Principal Kalender continued, “Guys, I’m not telling you to smoke, vape, do whatever, okay, of course I would not want you to do that—it’s not good for you—but you have a free period, many of you. You can walk down to the end of Ray [Ave.] or up Annie’s Way to the street and do it off campus.”

“The other day, they put a brand new towel dispenser up on the wall. The next day we broke it—[laughter]—okay, it’s not funny, guys! That costs money!”

“The things that we’re looking for to open another one,” explained Principal Kalender, “are the bathrooms are clean, they’re not being destroyed, kids are not vaping in there, kids are not fighting in there. If we can see that for an extended period of time, then we will open up one more bathroom.”

The segment ended with no further questions after a remark from a student asking what will be done about Vice Principal Servis “walking in while people are pissing.”

The bathroom closures have received largely negative responses from students. Junior Josef Kim started a petition for the “Abolishment of the bathroom system” at Leonia High School. “We have around 200 [signatures] and I’m aiming for 300 right now,” said Kim. “I’m going to bring it up to the board of education and Mr. Servis to undo this bathroom system.” When asked if he had a different solution, he responded, “Not yet, but I could get my team to think about possible solutions.”

His petition was mentioned briefly by Principal Kalender at the senior meeting: “I understand there’s a petition going around, and that’s fine, right, you’re learning about the democratic process, okay, and that’s fine, okay.”

Senior Ananya Brinton-Littlejohn objected to the new policy, claiming that the measures waste class time and do little to diminish vaping or vandalism; rather, they have concentrated the activity and removed the option to use a less problematic bathroom.

“I’ve gone twice [since the new policy],” said Brinton-Littlejohn, “The first time, it took me twenty minutes—what would’ve been a five minute bathroom trip.”

“I was in band, I had to stop what I was doing and get my Chromebook out…I had to wait for my computer to boot up, wait for Minga to load, make a pass…when I finally got down there, the teacher who was on duty gave me an issue because I didn’t have an active phone pass…when I finally got into the bathroom, there [were] like six girls, so I had to wait another minute or two…then [the teacher] chased me down the hallway because I forgot to sign out—I didn’t know I had to do that. By the time I got back into class…[the] whole ordeal took twenty minutes.”

“We’re just as irritated with [vapers and vandals] as we were before. Now we’re hating the administration,” stated Brinton-Littlejohn. “I do think that they’re doing their best, but…I don’t know how they came up with this…I don’t think it’s good for anyone.”

An Enduring Culture of Drug Use and Destruction

Bathroom misconduct, including drug use and vandalism, presents ongoing challenges for Leonia High School’s environment and culture. Regular property damage and litter, including illegal vape pens, indicates low integrity in some students and inconveniences many others. Unfortunately, it is unclear to what extent the administration’s approach will improve the situation.

At the end of my interview with Mr. DeJesus, he shared several photographs he had accrued from years of custodial work at Leonia High School:

Photographs taken by Mr. DeJesus.

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