PARAMOUNT : School Board to Ban Smoking Next Year
Students in the Paramount Unified School District have never been allowed to smoke on campus, and now the school board is extending the ban to teachers and even parents who might want to light up at their kids’ ballgames.
Trustees voted unanimously last week to ban smoking on all district property beginning next Jan. 1. Smoking will not be allowed at sporting events or in district-owned vehicles. To prepare for the total ban, the board decided to restrict smoking to small designated outdoor areas starting March 1.
Currently, employees can smoke in certain designated rooms, such as teacher lounges.
District health adviser Patti Cummings, who helped draft the proposal, said the district will launch an anti-smoking campaign and provide help for staff members who want to quit.
She said the policy is designed to be more educational than punitive, but employees who continue to smoke on district grounds could be disciplined by the superintendent or school board. “I can’t see anyone losing their job for smoking,” she said. “But leverage can be applied if they neglect the policy. Peer pressure will help too.”
The ABC Unified School District in Cerritos and the Los Angeles Unified School District have passed similar edicts.
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