Policy 5131.62 - Tobacco

Tobacco

The Board of Education recognizes the serious health risks presented by smoking and tobacco use and desires to ensure that, through adoption of consistent policies, district students are made aware of those risks and, to the extent possible, protected from them. The Superintendent or designee shall establish a coordinated school health system which includes a comprehensive behavioral health education component that teaches students the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need in order to lead healthy lives and avoid high-risk behaviors, such as tobacco use.

The Superintendent or designee shall provide prevention, intervention, and cessation education, information, activities, and/or referrals to district students and shall ensure consistent enforcement of district policies prohibiting student smoking, possession and use of tobacco products.

Prohibition Against Smoking and Tobacco Use

Students shall not possess, smoke, or use tobacco or any product containing tobacco, nicotine, or any plant product intended for inhalation, whether natural or synthetic while on campus, while attending school-sponsored activities, or while under the supervision and control of district employees. Prohibited products include, but are not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, miniature cigars, clove cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew packets, electronic smoking devices that create aerosol or vapor, and betel.

Students’ possession or use of electronic cigarettes, electronic hookahs, and other vapor-emitting devices, with or without nicotine content, that mimic the use of tobacco products is also prohibited.

These prohibitions do not apply to a student’s possession or use of his/her own prescription products. However, student possession or use of prescription products in school shall be subject to the district’s policy and regulation for addressing the administration of medications on campus.

Prevention Instruction

The district shall provide developmentally appropriate tobacco-use prevention instruction for students at selected grade levels from K-12. Such instruction shall be aligned with state content standards and the state curriculum framework for health education and with any requirements of state and/or federal grant programs in which the district participates.

Intervention/Cessation Services

The district may provide or refer students to counseling, intensive education, and other intervention services to assist in the cessation of tobacco use. Such intervention services shall be provided as an alternative to suspension for tobacco possession.

Program Planning

The district’s tobacco-use prevention and intervention program shall be based on an assessment of tobacco-use problems in district schools and the community, an examination of existing services and activities in the community, and a determination of high-risk student populations that are most in need of district services.

The Superintendent or designee shall coordinate with the local health department and county office of education in program planning and implementation. He/she may establish an advisory council including students, parents/guardians, district staff, representatives of the local health department and community organizations, law enforcement professionals, and/or others with demonstrated expertise in tobacco prevention and cessation.

The Superintendent or designee also shall coordinate the district’s tobacco-use prevention and intervention program with other district efforts to reduce students’ use of illegal substances and to promote student wellness.

The Superintendent or designee shall select anti-tobacco programs based on the model program designs identified by the California Department of Education (CDE) and may modify the model to meet district needs.

The Superintendent or designee shall not accept for distribution any materials or advertisements that promote the use or sale of tobacco products. He/she also shall not accept tobacco-use prevention or intervention funds or materials from the tobacco industry or from any entity which has received funding from the tobacco industry.

Program Evaluation

To evaluate the effectiveness of the district’s program and ensure accountability, the Superintendent or designee shall biennially administer the California Healthy Kids Survey or other appropriate student survey at selected grade levels in order to assess student attitudes toward tobacco and student use of tobacco. He/she also shall annually report to the Board, and to the CDE if required, the data specified in Health and Safety Code 104450.

The results of program evaluations shall be used to refine program goals and objectives and make changes as needed to strengthen program implementation.

Rule 5131.62

Last Revised 02/16/2010

The district's tobacco-use prevention program shall provide students in grades 6-12 instruction which addresses the following topics:

1. Immediate and long-term undesirable physiologic, cosmetic, and social consequences of tobacco use
2. Reasons adolescents say they smoke or use tobacco
3. Peer norms and social influences that promote tobacco use
4. Refusal skills for resisting social influences that promote tobacco use

As appropriate, the district shall provide or refer students in grades 7-12 to tobacco-use intervention and cessation activities.

These services shall be directed toward current users and shall be voluntary for students who desire assistance in ceasing the use of tobacco.