Countywide : Smoking Ban Skirted at School Bingo

At least three school districts in the county are permitting smoking at bingo games held on district property despite federal legislation that bars smoking inside school facilities as of last December.

Officials with Orange Unified, Capistrano Valley and Huntington Beach Unified school districts are relying on an opinion from the county Department of Education that the federal law is ambiguous and does not specify that outside organizations, such as booster clubs that run bingo games, must comply with the smoking ban.

When those organizations use the facility “it can be viewed then as sort of a lease,” said Val Fadely, who wrote the opinion for the county department. “Does the smoking ban apply only when the facility is used for instruction purposes or at any time including when it is used by outside organizations?

“That’s the ambiguity.”

Fadely said he issued the opinion in November after several districts asked about the language of the law.

“We’re still getting a lot of questions, especially now with the bankruptcy,” Fadely said. “Districts want to (protect) every source of revenue.”

Organizers of bingo games in districts that are banning smoking are upset about what they see as an advantage held by the games that allow smoking.

Hirsch Cherson, a member of the Katella High School booster club, asked the Anaheim Union High School District to waive the smoking ban at its Saturday night games because they were losing players to games at other schools.

But district officials are uncomfortable with testing the limits of the law and risking the $1,000 per incident fine. Trustee Molly McGee also pointed out that the district signs pledges that its facilities are smoke-free when it accepts federal grants.

The board decided to hold a special meeting Tuesday to decide whether to lift the ban until July, when state legislation kicks in that specifically prohibits smoking at all school facilities regardless of who is using them.