SAN ANTONIO — Superintendents are urging parents to talk to their kids as a new bill takes effect this Friday.
House Bill 114 requires any student caught vaping or even carrying an e-cigarette, marijuana, or item that delivers marijuana to immediately be removed from their class and placed in a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP) on the first offense. The placement is mandatory and school districts do not have any discretion on providing alternative punishments or a warning for that first offense.
Northside ISD Superintendent John Craft said he understands why the legislature is trying to crack down. Vaping, he said, has become an escalating problem and nearly half of the students currently in DAEP programs are there for vaping violations.
"It's absolutely concerning. Just in the past two year time period we've seen the number of vape incidents increase twofold. From just over 700 to 1400 last year," Craft said. "We want to make sure our parents understand the negative consequences and also our students."
Craft said NISD has spent the last two weeks working to inform parents of the change in the law.
At the same time, NISD didn't want students to immediately be transferred to an alternative campus so they worked to find a middle ground that satisfied the law.
Craft said NISD will be rolling out a new First-Offender program which will be able to place students in a DAEP program without actually removing them from their original campus.
"It's like an in-school suspension situation," Craft said.
The student would be in an alternative classroom for a minimum of 10 days but would remain on their home campus. Subsequent offenses would result in the student being transferred to a separate, DAEP-specific campus such as the Northside Alternative High School. Craft said second violation would also increase the time spent in DAEP programs to up to 45 days.
Craft also said any student caught vaping will still be placed in a DAEP program, regardless of whether the substance being vaped is a controlled substance or not. While THC-infused substances are especially concerning, Craft said no e-cigarette is safe from the policy regardless of what it contains.
"This is truly a no vape zone on all of our campuses or facilities," Craft said.
Craft said other districts should also be able to work with the Texas Education Agency to put together a similar program. He said the district will need parents help to make sure everyone understands the new consequences.
"To parents, we need your partnership in this endeavor," Craft said. "As a result of the recent legislation, obviously the consequences are much more severe. More importantly we want parents to understand the heath implications and to help curb this at an early age."