Secondary presents two-tier nicotine education and cessation track; first-offense option avoids citation with parent permission

At the March 4 committee meeting, secondary administrators described two programs intended to reduce student vaping: an education-focused nicotine-dependence series and a separate cessation program. Both are provided by an outside trained provider, require parent permission, and are offered after school.

Administrators said the first-offense option is a four one-hour after-school sessions program administered in lieu of the district's historical penalty of one to three days of in-school suspension and a citation if the student and parent agree to the program. "Putting a student in school for 1 day isn't going to get them to stop vaping," an administrator said when explaining the program's educational emphasis. For repeat offenses students are offered an additional four-hour cessation component; the combined regimen totals eight hours. Staff said only one student so far has moved to the second, combined program this year.

The provider administers surveys to participants and plans to share results at the end of the year; district staff said they are collecting that data to determine whether to continue or change the approach. The presentation referenced the American Lung Association's materials and a statistic cited by a presenter that "1 in 10 students are vaping right now," which the presenter said was taken from the association's public materials.

Administrators said the program is voluntary for families (parent/guardian permission required) and that successful completion of the sessions resulted in no citation being issued for that first offense. The district said it will monitor participation and survey outcomes before making longer-term judgments about effectiveness.