Earlier this month, the Tyrone Area School Board enacted a new policy concerning tobacco use by the community on school grounds.
Assistant Superintendent Joann Lang said it has long been the policy that no smoking is permitted in school buildings or on its grounds for staff or students. She said any employees who chose to smoke must do so off campus. Lang said the school has been “no smoking” for several years. However, she wasn’t sure how long the district has had such a policy.
Lang said the new policy is for visitors to the school. She used an example of visitors attending a school play and then going outside the building to smoke either before, during an intermission or after the event to explain why the policy has been instituted.
In a recent school newsletter, Superintendent Dr. William N. Miller commented about the issue prior to the adoption of the policy.
In the article, he said, “The board recognizes that smoking presents a health hazard which can have serious consequences both for the smoker and the non-smoker and is, therefore, of concern to the board.
“The policy states that, ‘In order to protect students, staff, and visitors from the safety hazards of smoking and from an environment noxious to non-smokers, the Board prohibits smoking in a school building, a school bus, or on school property owned by, leased by, or under the control of the school district.’”
The policy states, “Visitors using tobacco products on school property will be subject to one or more of the following actions:
1. The visitor will be instructed to immediately discontinue use of tobacco on school district property.
2. If the visitor refuses to comply with the request to discontinue tobacco use, he/she will be instructed to leave school property.
3. If the visitor refuses to comply, he/she will be escorted off school property by school police or a school administrator and denied access to school buildings and property.
Failure to comply with the policy constitutes a misdemeanor of the first degree.
The new policy covers the use of all tobacco, including cigar, cigarette, pipe, chewing tobacco and snuff. The policy covers not only school building and grounds, but also school buses and any property owned or leased by the district.
