Punishment for vaping at school not strict enough, Rapides Parish principals say

Three Rapides Parish administrators asked Tuesday for policy revisions on vaping, telling a school board committee about overdoses on campuses and how hard it is to know what substances students are putting into the devices, called pens.

“The last five years, we’ve seen this vaping just become a pandemic with our students, even in middle schools,” said Sons Pathoumthong, assistant principal of discipline at Alexandria Senior High School. “What we are dealing with are … these kids today are just completely bold with the vaping.”

Board member Wilton Barrios had asked for a discussion on the district’s vaping policy during the education committee meeting Sept. 20, wanting to know if penalties for vaping illegal substances are the same as those for tobacco use.

“I think most administrators would tell you they’re being treated the same way, and that is something that I think is wrong,” he said. “Is that true, or is that not true?”

Superintendent Jeff Powell told him it wouldn’t be the same if the substances were illegal. He said schools can drug test students if there is a “reasonable suspicion” that what they’re consuming is illegal. If illegal, “the consequences are different,” he said.

Barrios asked if the person who administers drug tests can deny a testing request from a principal.

Clyde Washington, executive assistant superintendent of administration, said principals need to complete a reasonable suspicion checklist and submit it to the district’s drug coordinator, who “looks at that information to see if it’s enough to move forward with that test.”

Barrios said some administrators’ requests have been denied, and Washington told him if the request isn’t reasonable, the tests won’t be done. Powell said the checklist is based on legal guidelines, so there must be “true reasonable suspicion.”

Washington provided a copy of the multi-page checklist for board members and, as it was being handed out, board President Dr. Stephen Chapman asked if parents are notified if their child is to be drug tested. Powell said parents are notified of reasonable suspicion, but their permission is not needed for the test.

Unnatural colors?Rapides School Board to discuss new hair colors, facial hair rules for students in October

Coastal crunchLouisiana insurance crisis could crush home ownership dreams in coastal regions

Board member Sandra Franklin asked whether a vaping pen possessed by a student would automatically trigger a drug test. Powell said no.

Oak Hill High School Principal Mark Roberts asked the committee how much of the reasonable suspicion checklist has to be checked off for a drug test to be performed. He said when principals do see something that doesn’t look right, they feel they have to justify why they want that test.

Powell asked Roberts if he favored the possession of a vaping pen being enough to trigger a drug test. Roberts hesitated, saying if it’s marijuana, then the smell would be enough to contribute to the reasonable suspicion.

But he said some products produced now do not emit clouds from vaping pens. He said students are using them at school, leading to posted signs stating only one person at a time is allowed in a bathroom stall.

“We’re having students pile in, three, four, five in a stall, and when we can’t even tell that there’s a vape going on," Roberts said. "If they hit the vape, they may not exhibit the symptoms. And, my fear is, I don’t know what’s in the vape.”

Roberts said possessing a vape needs to be aligned with possession of cigarettes, and there needs to be a “second prong” that sends repeat offenders to the expulsion center known as the Rapides Alternative Positive Program for Students (RAPPS).

Karl Carpenter, Pineville High School principal, held up a vape pen that had been confiscated at his school that day and reminded members legal purchases only are supposed to be by those 21 and older. He said students found with a pen or vaping aren’t automatically tested when caught.

Carpenter echoed Roberts’ concerns about not knowing what students are inhaling when they use vape pens at school.

“I don’t know what they’re putting in there,” he said. “I have had on my campus, the occasion last year, that we have called ambulances over and over to bring students away from our campus back to the hospital to take care of them. We’ve administered Narcan on our campus because of these things.”

Narcan is an emergency treatment for drug overdoses.

He said a three-day in-school suspension isn’t seen as serious by students. He said students who break the rule should have a three-day suspension, at least.

Carpenter said it bothers him when he’s told there’s not enough reasonable suspicion for a drug test on students he sees with glazed eyes or other symptoms, even though he admits he’s not a doctor. He also called for investigating where students are buying vape pens.

“I’m in favor of much more stringent penalties for vaping on my campus,” he said.

He said the forms can be filled out, but people in the downtown Alexandria central office aren’t at the schools to see “this slobbering, snot-slinging” student who he believes needs to be drug tested.

“And that irritates us at a school level,” he said.

Pathoumthong backed up the other administrators, saying he didn’t believe the punishment was fitting. He also noted that it’s illegal for those under 21 to have vaping pens and that students in possession of alcohol get 30 days at RAPPS.

He said he was on the committee several years ago that made the punishment for vaping equal to that for possessing alcohol “because it is illegal.”

He echoed Carpenter about not knowing what students are smoking in their vaping pens. He said the market has changed from when vaping pens were introduced. Instead of being expensive, they’re now disposable and available in every corner store, he said.

Kids not only are using the devices but are dealing them, too, said Pathoumthong.

“When I had the conversation with Ms. Butler (Shewanda Butler, the district’s Safe and Drug Free School coordinator) about the new policy this year, I was appalled just because it became less punitive,” he said. “And when we look at a problem that becomes a greater problem, then the consequences should be higher.”

A three-day in-school suspension is not enough, he said.

He said if the district is truly cares about the safety of its students and campuses, then the consequences need to be higher.

“Because when these kids are under the influence, even of a vaping device, they’re gonna make more poor choices on campus,” he said. “I truly believe that. If they are bold enough to vape in a classroom, they’re gonna continue to make poor choices.”

Board member Mark Dryden spoke about how quickly students can be affected by what they consume in vaping pens, saying it’s sometimes instantaneous. He said a Buckeye High School student almost died that way, although he didn’t say when it happened.

“We would have lost that child” if not for having Narcan on campus, he said.

The committee passed a substitute motion 2-1 to revert to a more stringent policy that was in place in 2019. Committee chair Linda Burgess and member Darrell Rodriguez voted for the motion. Franklin voted no.

The motion should be considered by the full board at its Oct. 4 regular meeting.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Rapides principals: Stronger punishment needed for on-campus vaping