District seeks to expand anti-vaping education, detection and diversion for high school students

A staff presenter told the Unit 40 Board of Education on Sept. 15 that underage vaping is rising in the community and asked the board to endorse a public statement and allow the district to share anti-vaping education on its social media channels. "We are doing harm to our young people, and people are profiting from that," Mr. Roberts said as he described health and learning consequences tied to nicotine use among adolescents.

Roberts said 2024 CDC-derived research indicates roughly 1,200,000 high school students vape (about 7.8 percent) and that middle-school use is about 3.5 percent; he cited additional survey findings that 64 percent of current e-cigarette users said they want to quit and 67 percent tried to quit in the past year. "The U.S. surgeon general has concluded youth use of nicotine in any form, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe," Roberts said.

The presenter described three broad responses the district is using and seeking to expand: enforce existing policies (including local ordinances and school rules); educate students and families about harms and cessation resources; and support students who want to quit. He said the high school uses vape detectors in several restrooms to establish patterns, notify parents and, where appropriate, search students for devices as part of policy enforcement. He also described a diversion program run through the school resource officer that lets students avoid harsher disciplinary consequences if they participate in education or counseling sessions.

Roberts outlined existing and planned prevention activities: vaping education during freshman orientation and the health curriculum; an anti-youth-vaping poster contest (grades 5–12) coordinated by the advanced art class; a developing contact list of counselors willing to work with families on addiction counseling; and plans to complete an American Lung Association partner training to access videos and materials for classrooms and diversion programming. He asked the board to consider issuing a public statement of commitment — a draft prepared with Mr. Johnson and reviewed by the district attorney — and to allow district social accounts to repost anti-vaping content.

No formal motion was made on the request during the meeting; Roberts said the statement would be released only after board endorsement and legal review. Board members discussed possible local partnerships with medical providers to support outreach and noted that vape detectors sometimes register nonstudents at public events. Officer Hartke and Mr. Huber were identified in the presentation as the school resource officer and advanced art teacher, respectively, with roles in diversion and the poster contest.

The presentation did not propose arrests or criminal enforcement as the district's primary response; Roberts explicitly said the approach is education and support in addition to enforcing school policy. The board took no formal vote to adopt a new policy at the meeting.