Laredo ISD unveils multi-tier vaping response: prevention campaign, first-time-offender diversion and a proposed grant

Laredo ISD on Feb. 13 outlined a multi-part plan to reduce student vaping that combines prevention messaging, a campus-level program for student-code violations and a first-time-offender diversion that would defer arrest for eligible youths.

District staff said the district recorded 235 vaping-related discipline incidents in 2023–24 and told trustees the problem is rising this school year: as of Feb. 10 staff reported about 60 incidents in middle schools (up from 35 at the comparable point last year) and about 118 incidents in high schools (up from 76), according to figures presented by district staff.

District officials said the plan — branded internally as ‘‘FOCUS’’ (Fostering Opportunity for Change, Upliftment and Success) — contains three linked programs: (1) a prevention campaign with posters, PSAs and an informational website; (2) Laredo ISD Inspiring Families Together (LIFT), a campus-level program for student-code violations that would reduce disciplinary placement time by 75% for qualifying students; and (3) CHANCE (Creating Hope and New Choices for Everyone), a first-time-offender diversion for nonviolent criminal charges that staff said would require a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the district’s police…