Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 26, 1994 TAG: 9403300007
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Current school policy says students can't smoke or chew tobacco. Teachers and other school employees can, but only in one lounge at Radford High School or in secluded areas away from students.
Craig wants tobacco to be comprehensively banned indoors, and proposed a drastic resolution Thursday that would accomplish that aim.
The prohibition he recommended would apply to everyone in school buildings, meaning school employees and visitors would join students in going cold turkey.
"I feel very strongly about this," Craig said, adding that the proposed ban was timely.
Most New River Valley school divisions already ban tobacco use in their buildings. Pulaski County has declared that all school buildings and grounds are smoke-free zones.
Giles County, like Radford, still allows smoking by school employees in designated areas.
However, the 1994 General Assembly passed a bill prohibiting smoking in public schools during regular hours. That comprehensive ban will take effect this summer.
Tobacco should be eliminated because of its unhealthful and addictive impact on users and those who inhale second-hand smoke, Craig said.
Violators should be warned first but subject to punishment or ultimate dismissal if they fail to comply, he said.
Craig wanted the ban to be approved right away. But his proposal sparked questions among others at the Radford School Board meeting.
"Will this mean not hiring teachers who smoke, or forcing them to stop?" Board member George Ducker asked.
Would the ban be enforced on teacher work days when no students are present, or while employees are working after school hours? Chairman Guy Gentry wanted to know.
No one knew how many school employees would be affected by the ban.
Principal Buddy Martin predicted if all the smokers among teachers and other employees at Radford High School were suspended for violating the policy, "We may have to shut down part of the building."
Debate also swirled around the issue of extending the ban outdoors.
Presently, smoking is banned in the grandstands at football games, said School Superintendent Michael Wright.
Smokers are asked to go behind the stands if they need to light up.
As for banning tobacco from parking lots and other school grounds, Craig said he didn't specifically recommend that step because "I don't want a policy we can't enforce."
Board member Carter Effler said banning tobacco from buildings was the limit of reason.
"As much as I would like to wave a wand and make it [tobacco] disappear, this is as strong as we can get," he said.
In Pulaski County, tobacco use was banned on all school property, indoors and outdoors, in 1992. "The implementation went rather smoothly, more so than we anticipated," said Doris Dawson, Pulaski schools' personnel director.
Other Radford board members, while expressing sympathy for the ban, said the revised policy should be circulated among school employees before it is voted upon.
"I want the other side, the smokers in the system, to be able to call me and give me an opinion," Guy Wohlford said.
The revised policy is likely to be considered at the board's next meeting on April 14.
by CNB