VOORHEESVILLE – Addiction is difficult. Nearly everyone has been affected in some way by nicotine addiction, or its side effects, in their personal lives or the lives of someone they love, said Voorheesville Superintendent Linda Langevin.

The first reading of an updated tobacco-use policy was approved at last Monday’s school board meeting. The policy, drafted by the district’s planning and governance committee, took into consideration feedback provided by students and community members, said Langevin.

A draft of the policy was posted on the district’s website in December with a feedback survey attached to it, allowing for comments and suggestions. Langevin said she received responses from 75 students, ranging in age from fifth-graders to 11th-graders.
"I read everything myself and took notes," Langevin said, regarding the feedback.

The students who responded were concerned about their siblings and families, and wanted to be sure they didn’t pick up the habit, she said. They wanted to have strong enforcement of the policy, Langevin said, adding that she was surprised that some students thought that anti-tobacco programs should start in kindergarten.
The percentage of smoking teens at Clayton A. Bouton High School is "probably miniscule right now," Principal Mark Diefendorf told The Enterprise. "I think the message has gotten through to the kids" and they’re choosing not to smoke," he said.

According to the American Lung Association, in 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 22 percent of high-school students were current smokers and 11.7 percent of middle-school students smoked.
The draft policy prohibits the "possession or use of tobacco or related items" at any time on school property. Included in the policy’s definition of tobacco is "any lighted or unlighted cigarette, cigar, cigarillo, pipe, bidi, clove cigarette, spit tobacco (smokeless, dip, chew and/or snuff) and any other tobacco product in any form." It also includes smoking paraphernalia such as lighters and rolling papers.

The policy applies to students, staff, and members of the community.
"All administrators, faculty, and staff will be encouraged to enforce the tobacco policy. Students will be encouraged to inform school employees if they encounter tobacco use on the premises but are not expected to confront violators," the policy states.

Board members were divided on the issue of enforcement at the April 2 meeting.
"Discretion with the tobacco policy holds the same problems as the dress code," said board member Paige Pierce. Pierce, along with board members Kevin Kroencke and Richard Brackett, were not in favor of the stricter dress code passed in July.
"I’ve heard from several students that the dress code is not working," Pierce added, stressing that smoking cigarettes is an addiction, and the administration needs to handle it seriously.
Repeatedly suspending the smokers makes it increasingly more difficult for them to graduate, and is not a favorable resolution, she said. The disciplinary measures for students who are found to be using or in possession of tobacco products "will be defined by the school’s Code of Conduct," the policy says.
The district’s code of conduct states that, "disciplinary action, when necessary, will be firm, fair, and consistent so as to be the most effective in changing student behavior."
"A Tobacco Education Program may be offered as an alternative to suspension at the discretion of the administration," the tobacco-use policy says. "Students who are disciplined for any tobacco-related offense will be offered intervention service such as voluntary cessation and counseling programs."

The cessation program will be funded through grant money, Langevin said. Four trained staff members will volunteer to work the program, she told the board last Monday.
"I’d like to give the discretion to the administrators," said board member Thomas McKenna.
"If we can’t trust our administrators to be fair, then we need to get rid of those administrators and get new ones," said school-board President David Gibson.
Diefendorf said he would love to see the number of students and staff members who smoke to be reduced to zero, but, he said, "It is a small number already."

The high school will be hosting a Cold Turkey Day and a Kick Butts Day, to encourage smokers to quit, Diefendorf said.
Though the numbers of students who are caught smoking on school grounds has decreased, "Smoking is still a sign of one’s independence," he said.
The few students that Diefendorf knows who "are involved with ingesting cigarettes" aren’t interested in participating in the school-sponsored events to encourage quitting, he said.

A copy of the draft policy is available on the district’s website, and feedback is still being accepted, Langevin told The Enterprise this week.

Last year’s federally-required wellness policy received a widespread positive reaction, she said, and she anticipates a similar reaction to the tobacco policy, which will be voted on at the May 7 school-board meeting.
Langevin is hoping the policy will "ensure that people will make healthy choices," she said.

Other business

In other business, at recent meetings, the school board:

– Accepted the resignations of Thomas Kurkjian, a social studies teacher for 36 years; Estelle Sullivan, a science teacher for 22 years; and Susanne Hudacs, a social studies teacher for 21 years;

– Approved the 2007-08 Kids’ Club Building Agreement. The annual rental fee for the after-school program is $7,000. New York State requires a minimum of 35 square feet per child, and, because of space restrictions with an additional fourth-grade class and construction set to begin this summer, the program may have to be scaled back. The program now serves from 120 to 130 students and would possibly need to be cut back to 100;

– Approved an out-of-town field trip for the International Club to Boston on May 2 at a cost of $12 per student plus transportation costs;

– Accepted in-kind and gift donations to the district totaling $11,908.68 for the 2007-08 budget. The elementary school will receive $1,914.34; the secondary school will receive $1,694.34; and humanities programs will receive $8,300;
– Approved the attendance of four staff members at the 15th annual Model Schools Conference in Washington, D.C. from June 30 through July 3, at a cost of $765 per person plus lodging. The four members of the steering committee will join 13 staff members who were previously approved. The trip will mark the "last of the trips to D.C. for a while," Diefendorf told the board. Richard Brackett was the only board member who opposed the expenditure;

– Announced that petitions for candidates interested in running for the school board are due on April 13 at 4 p.m. Candidates must be at least 18 years old, live in the district, and cannot be employed by the district;

– Announced that a Parent-Teacher Association meeting will be held on April 19 at 7 p.m. in the elementary-school cafeteria. Board members and the architect for the construction project will be present to answer questions;

– Approved the amortization of the $4.8 million bond at a declining debt schedule;

– Approved early dismissal for elementary-school students on June 21 to help teachers with the final packing and moving prior to the start of construction. School will let out at 11:50 a.m.;

– Announced that a special board meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 17, at 7 p.m. to approve bids for the capital project;

– Created an ad-hoc standard-of-teaching-quality committee to establish criteria to serve as the standard for the educational system. The committee will be made up of board members Gibson and Kroencke; high-school Principal Diefendorf; elementary-school Principal Ken Lein; teachers Tony Thanopoulos, Kathy Fiero, and Sheila Lobel; and Superintendent Langevin; and

– Entered into executive session to discuss current litigation and the employment history of particular individuals. No actions were made following the session.