LAGUNA BEACH : Schools to Enforce Strict Smoking Ban

Beginning in January, smoking will be prohibited on all school campuses, including offices and football fields, in one of the most restrictive smoking bans in the county.

Only the school district’s maintenance yard in Laguna Canyon was exempted from the rule.

To this point, teachers and staff members have been allowed to smoke in designated areas at each city school, Supt. Dennis Smith said. But the Laguna Beach school board voted unanimously last week to prohibit all campus smoking as of Jan. 7. Students were never allowed to smoke on campus, he said.

Smith said there was virtually no opposition to the proposal, which the board began discussing about six months ago.

“This isn’t the result of controversy,” he said. “Everyone has agreed this is a positive move on the district’s part.”

Board President Jim Kreder agreed that the prohibition was widely supported. “Our feedback from our teacher representative is that even those teachers who smoke supported the idea and have been very cooperative,” he said.

In October, the Ocean View school board in Huntington Beach banned smoking on all school district grounds, including the maintenance yard and transportation facility. That policy will become effective Feb. 1.

Although other school districts have not banned smoking, according to an Orange County Department of Education official, the trend is in that direction.

“I think you’re going to find that more school districts are going to be reviewing and looking at that potential,” said Vicki Walker, a department spokeswoman. “It’s a risk factor for the kids.”