School District Gets Grant for Anti-Tobacco Program
The Culver City Unified School District received a $250,000 grant from the State Department of Education to fund its tobacco use prevention program.
The district was one of three districts in California to be awarded the grant, which is funded through Proposition 99, the tobacco tax initiative approved in 1988, said Shari Brantley, who oversees the program.
Part of the money will be used to allow program leaders from Culver City to set up similar programs in school districts throughout the state, she said.
“It’s not just a high school problem,” Brantley said. “We’ve got a lot of kids in middle school and even elementary school smoking.”
In Culver City, all district students caught using tobacco must enter a six-week program that teaches them the health risks caused by tobacco use and provides on-campus support groups for students to discuss peer pressure and personal problems.
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