'Vaping' to be treated same as cigarettes in APSD schools

If the "cool" students think they found a loophole in the "no tobacco" rule for Avoyelles Parish school campuses and events with "vaping," the School Board closed it at its last meeting.

"Vaping" is now a Level IV infraction, as is smoking. It can result in suspension and eventually to expulsion.

If the student is vaping a nicotine substance, it will be treated the same as smoking a cigarette or using smokeless or chewing tobacco. If the student is "vaping" a narcotic or other illegal substance, then the offense carries the same consequences of using narcotic/illegal substances on campus and at school events, which is expulsion.

Once considered a "safe" alternative to cigarettes, "e-cigarettes" have increasingly been linked to deaths and health hazards. They are generally banned wherever tobacco use is prohibited.

The vote was 7-1, with Stanley Celestine Jr. opposed and Lynn Deloach absent.

ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL OPTIONS

In another matter, Board President Robin Moreau appointed a special committee to research various alternative school programs for future consideration.

The board currently contracts with Ombudsman, a private company that operates a virtual-based program with on-site teachers to lead the instruction. The school is primarily for students serving long-term suspension or expulsion. Students can "earn" a return to their school by meeting certain benchmarks.

The Avoyelles Virtual Alternative Program (AVAP) is housed in the former Hessmer High School School's elementary building.

The program has been criticized for being too expensive -- of spending more on "problem students" than the district can afford to spends on its best and brightest students. Supporters of the program dispute that conclusion.

There have also been comments that Moreau's interest in finding a new alternative program has more to do with his desire to bring at least an elementary school back to his hometown of Hessmer than it does with concerns over cost of the current program.

Moreau has made no secret of his support for a return to a "community school" approach which would put schools closer to their students to reduce travel time to and from school every day. This is especially important for younger children, he has said.

Were an elementary school created and located in the Hessmer building, the School Board has a few other properties available to house an alternative program. The site in Hessmer is centrally located and large
enough to accommodate AVAP's needs.

The committee will meet monthly. Moreau said it should be able to report its findings to the full board in October. Members are Chairperson Aimee Dupuy, Stanley Celestine Jr., Rickey Adams, Lynn Deloach
and Chris Robinson.