Board approves LACOE tobacco‑prevention grant for student education and interventions

The Beverly Hills Unified School District board voted March 11 to accept a Tobacco Use Prevention Education (TUPE) grant administered through the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). District staff described the grant as an annual award that supports prevention education, targeted interventions for students who have been cited for vaping or tobacco use on campus, parent‑education events and transportation to a county TUPE conference.

Staff said the typical uses for the current award include stipends for certificated staff who deliver prevention lessons at the middle and high schools, parent partnership panels and guest speakers, and payment of student transportation to the annual TUPE conference. The presenter said approximately $14,500 of the roughly $25,000 total is used for certificated salary stipends and benefits for staff who run the program; the remainder supports panels and transportation.

Trustees asked whether the program served all students or only targeted students; staff explained the curriculum is available to all students through health or PE classes while targeted remediation is provided to students who are identified as actively vaping or smoking on campus. Staff also told trustees they had received notice from LACOE that the TUPE allocation will be reduced next year by roughly 35 percent and that the district would have to consider supplementing the program from the general fund to maintain current services.

Trustees approved acceptance of the TUPE grant by voice vote recorded as ayes; staff said they would return with outcome data and intervention numbers at a later date.

Ending: Staff will track program outcomes and present intervention data to the board. Trustees asked staff to consider stronger preventative messaging beginning in sixth grade and to explore measuring program effectiveness with Healthy Kids Survey data.