TUSTIN : School Smoking Ban Gets Preliminary OK

The Tustin Unified School District Board of Trustees this week gave initial approval to a sweeping no-smoking policy that will go into effect Jan. 1.

The policy, approved Monday, prohibits smoking on all school property and in school district vehicles. The regulation will also prohibit smoking during all district sports competitions.

“As far as we know there hasn’t been any (opposition),” said district spokesman Mark Eliot. “I am sure a lot of staff members would support something like this. More and more people are stopping (smoking) anyway.”

If the measure gets final approval at the Aug. 9 meeting, district officials will use the period before Jan. 1 to inform staff and community members of the new rules. Signs will be posted in and around district buildings outlining the policy, and unofficial enforcement will begin.

Tustin Unified is one of several Southland districts to ban smoking in and around its facilities. The Los Angeles Unified School District enacted a two-phase program in 1990 that first limited teachers and staff to smoking in designated areas and later progressed to a total ban. The Huntington Beach City School District approved a smoking ban last year that prohibits use of tobacco products during working hours on district property or in district vehicles.

Tustin Unified, as with other districts, is pushing the ban to maintain eligibility for federal funding. The district must be smoke-free by 1996 to continue receiving federal funding for anti-smoking programs which, according to district budget documents, totals about $60,000.