LONGVIEW, Texas — School districts catching students vaping on campus has become so common that state lawmakers passed a law creating stricter disciplinary actions. Texas House Bill 114 goes into effect next month, but some schools in East Texas are already implementing the new policy.
"The bill was set up by the legislature in order to address the vaping epidemic in our state," said Scott Fisher, the director of safety and magnet grant program at Longview ISD.
The policy will bring stricter punishments to students caught with electronic cigarettes on public school campuses or events like football games. If a school official catches students with THC or nicotine vapes, they must be placed into a disciplinary alternative education program, also known as alternative school.
"If a student goes to DAEP for having a vape they are going to have to complete an educational course on the dangers of vaping," Fisher said. "We're hoping that the disciplinary measure combined with the educational part of it will hopefully keep them from doing it again. And they get the help that they need if they're addicted to particular substance."
During LISD's first week of school, staff members already caught a small number of students with vapes. The state law does not go into effect until Sept. 1, but the school district already began implementing the policy. They’ve sent out notices to parents and brought it up at orientation and on social media.
Nacogdoches ISD said they are also going the extra mile and warning students as well. NISD Chief Communications Officer Les Linebarger said they've also put up posters in multiple buildings to inform students about the policy.
Last year, NISD said they had 116 instances of catching students with a vaping device.
"It's also a health issue," Linebarger said. "This is still a relatively new occurrence that's taking place and health officials and experts still aren't really sure what all this looks like say maybe 10 years, 20 years on down the road. So that's really how we're approaching it with our families is this is an opportunity to hopefully stop this where it's at."