Rapides School Board goes back to harsher student vaping policy, but discussion isn't over

Though two Rapides Parish School Board members questioned the educational versus punitive aims of a proposed policy on students' use of vaping pens, the board voted 5-3 to return to a stricter policy after pleas from administrators.

But the Tuesday evening vote doesn’t appear to be the end of the discussion. After a sometimes heated-discussion, member Keith Breazeale said he’d introduce another measure on the issue at an upcoming committee meeting.

Changes to district policies don’t take effect for 30 days.

During a September committee meeting, several school administrators asked to return to the 2019-20 policy because students in grades nine through 12 could be drug tested and sent to the district’s alternative site for 30 days on a first offense if found guilty of possessing, using or distributing any type of vaping device or tobacco products.

The policy in place since the beginning of the current school year called for a three-day in-school suspension for vaping devices.

Two principals and an assistant principal told the committee about the problems they were encountering on their campuses, including student overdoses from substances consumed through the vaping pens. Pineville High School Principal Karl Carpenter pointed out it is illegal for anyone younger than 21 to possess the pens.

On Tuesday, Carpenter spoke on behalf of administrators in the audience. He shared data from the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey that found two in five kids used e-cigarettes frequently and one in four used them daily.

The study was conducted online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than on school campuses as in years past. But Carpenter promised board members those numbers are higher, “and we’re battling this on a regular basis.”

He also touched on brain development and the use of e-cigarettes, saying kids don’t think about those consequences when they use. He said the principals’ biggest concern is they don’t know what substances students are vaping. He reiterated it’s illegal for students to possess and use vaping devices or tobacco products according to Louisiana law.

Carpenter said a junior overdosed on his campus the day before the meeting, showing photos of an Acadian Ambulance in front of his school, the girl being tended to by paramedics and two disposable Elf Bar vaping devices that were found in her possession.

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The girl’s heart rate skyrocketed, he said.

“I thought a 16-year-old was about to have a stroke and die on my campus. I want something done.”

Board members Sandra Franklin and Linda Burgess spoke in favor of education efforts for students instead of punishment alone. Clyde Washington, the district’s executive assistant superintendent of administration, said students sent to in-school suspension, or RAPPS, do receive information on the harmful effects of vaping.

For students who offend again, sessions on how to quit vaping can be required, he said. He said the reason the previous policy was changed was to move from a punitive method to educational method.

Franklin offered data board members received from district staff that showed of 92 students drug tested, only 14 tested positive for various substances. She did not state which time period those statistics covered.

"Just because they have a vape doesn't necessarily mean they have something in it all the time," she said, then asking what education students are receiving on the matter.

Carpenter said students at his school have been viewing a video course about vaping, as well as other materials.

"Whenever I have 89 percent of my students taking this vaping education course, that's what we're trying to do," he said. "We want those students to do that."

But, he said, students "at the bottom, they're not gonna pay attention to any rule we put. The students up here at the top are not worried about the rules because they don't ever break them. These kids in the middle, the 90 percent of my student body that I'm concerned about providing this deterrent for, they won't do this if they know the result of their activity is a reassignment of educational services."

Burgess said she is concerned students could be kicked out onto the streets, which Carpenter said isn't true. As Franklin pressed on testing, board President Dr. Stephen Chapman asked if he could interject.

Franklin said no, and Chapman responded that he could. He asked her what students are being tested for, and she replied vaping.

"They're not testing for vaping. They're testing for drugs," he shot back.

"We're so punitive and not restorative," Franklin said.

After more discussion, board Vice President Buddy McCall called for a vote on the measure. Burgess asked if there could be a substitute motion, but because McCall's call had been seconded, the only way to do that is if member Wilton Barrios agreed to withdraw his original motion. He refused.

Voting against Barrios' motion were Burgess, Franklin and member Steve Berry. Voting for it were Barrios, Chapman, McCall, Breazeale and member Darrell Rodriguez.

After the meeting, Superintendent Jeff Powell reiterated that the policy approved does include education, as well as cessation and addiction services. He said, according to law, underage students cannot possess or use vaping devices at school.

"Then the question becomes, what do they have in the vape," he said. "Nobody knows what that is until something really bad happens, as we have seen here locally, as we've seen across the country. Vaping is a major issue. It needs to become a community issue."

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Rapides School Board approves stricter vaping policy; issue not dead