Beginning in January 2024, students of the Lamar County School District will face harsher penalties if caught with vaping devices of any kind – including but not limited to vape pens, disposable vapes, vape kits and pod systems – at any of the district’s campuses or activities.
That measure was voted on during the December meeting of the school district’s board of trustees, where superintendent Steven Hampton said that vaping has become an issue not just in Lamar County, but throughout the nation.
“As you talk to other superintendents in the area, it’s an epidemic of vaping,” Hampton said. “It’s not just nicotine the vapes are containing – they’re starting to load them with other types of drugs and chemicals and compounds and things like that.
“So we’re upping our disciplinary actions when students are caught with vapes.”
Under the new rules, any student caught with a vaping device at any school or school-sponsored activity will be immediately sent to Step 6 of the district’s discipline ladder. That includes a recommendation to the District Discipline Committee for a minimum of 45 school days in alternative school, along with a referral to youth court.
In addition, the student will be required to complete a course on vaping/substance abuse during the alternative school placement.
Prior to the board’s decision, the use of vaping devices could vary and would usually fall under the district’s tobacco ordinance.
“It depended – it could be anywhere from in-school tutorial to suspension from school,” Hampton said. “We just wanted to clearly define, from now on, what vaping (would result in).
“We haven’t really had any situations, but one fear of ours is, with Fentanyl being more widely available, if a student were to get one of these vapes that have one of these drugs, they could overdose.
“So we just want to send a clear message that this is not appropriate at school, and it’s not appropriate for the students. Also, it could be a danger to the staff, so we’re wanting to send a clear message that it’s not appropriate.”
Back in October, district officials voted to accept a settlement of $78,000 as a result of a class action lawsuit against two organizations involved in e-cigarettes and accessories, following a 2020 lawsuit alleging the companies targeted school-age children with vaping products, leading to underage vaping at schools across the country.
During that month’s board meeting, board members approved provisions put forth by JUUL and Altria. JUUL is a San Francisco-based manufacturer of e-cigarettes and accessories, while Altria – according to its website – offers a portfolio of smoke-free products designed to transition adults to a smoke-free future via various nicotine options.
District officials will use the funds from the settlement to further vaping awareness and prevention, and to educate students on the harmful side effects of that measure.
Board members voted to join the suit, which is being handled by Frantz Law Group out of Los Angeles, on August 10, 2020. The suit accused JUUL of design defect, failure to warn, negligence and being a public nuisance.
It also stated that the cigarette industry has a long history of marketing to young people under the age of 21, but while “Big Tobacco” is prohibited from many marketing tactics promoting cigarette use among young people, JUUL has been allowed to implement those strategies in order to build their customer base.
“I think we’ve taken multiple steps, even in joining the class action lawsuit against Juul and Altria,” Hampton said. “We want to send that message that we’re serious about making sure that we can do everything we can within our control – and that’s the only thing we can control, is the time of day that (students) are at school.
“We can’t control the time they’re not. But what we can control, we’re going to do the best we can to make sure that we educate (students).”
