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North Kingstown subcommittee forwards tobacco-use-on-school-property policy to policy subcommittee
Summary
The North Kingstown Health and Wellness Subcommittee voted Jan. 8 to send the final review of the “Tobacco product use on school property” policy to the district policy subcommittee after minor edits and consistency checks.
The North Kingstown Health and Wellness Subcommittee on Jan. 8 voted to forward the final review of the district’s “Tobacco product use on school property” policy to the policy subcommittee for further processing.
The move is intended to send the most recent draft, which the subcommittee reviewed and edited for wording consistency and definitions, on to the standing policy body and ultimately back to the full school committee for adoption. Subcommittee members described the changes as largely definitional rather than substantive.
Sherry Kennedy, School Committee member, made the motion to move the draft to the next stage. Sally Davidson, Belonging and Community Engagement Coordinator, seconded the motion. The subcommittee approved the motion by voice vote; members did not record a roll-call tally during the meeting.
Members said the draft resolves several items discussed at prior meetings, chiefly clarifying definitions used in the policy and standardizing references to “parent/guardian.” Pam Panaro, a parent and physical therapist, said she had read the draft and thought it “reflects everything that we have talked about,” and the subcommittee agreed to pass the policy along rather than reopen major changes.
The subcommittee also noted related resources that may be used for implementation, including the Rhode Island Tobacco-Free School model policy and Department of Health guidance. The policy will still require review by the policy subcommittee; if recommended there, it will proceed to the full school committee for final action.
Next steps: the Health and Wellness Subcommittee chair said she will forward the approved draft to the policy subcommittee and requested that the policy subcommittee confirm whether the language should be adopted as written or whether additional edits (for example, adding a definitions section or standardizing certain phrases) are needed prior to placement on a school committee agenda.
