In partnership with CDC-DASH and many collaborators, NASBE has developed research-based, best practice model policy language on various school health topics that states, districts, and schools can adopt or adapt for themselves. The points they address were suggested by the CDC's scientifically rigorous school health guidelines, state and local policies, and comments from expert reviewers.

Topic-specific policies should be adopted within an overall coordinated school health program policy framework. For further explanation, see Chapter C: General School Health Policies of Fit, Healthy, and Ready to Learn.

Note: NASBE offers its model policy language free of copyright; courtesy attribution is requested. Users will need to adapt this model policy to fit their state and local education governance structure and established policy format, particularly the phrases in italics.

Comprehensive School Tobacco-Use Prevention Policy

Note: Underlined and italicized phrases should be customized or are optional.

INTENT. District/school leaders shall develop a comprehensive policy/program/plan to prevent tobacco use that is based on current research and best practices. The policy/program/plan shall be developed in partnership with families, health care providers, and community organizations; shall be implemented within the context of a coordinated school health program; and shall include the following provisions:

• establish and enforce a prohibition on all use of tobacco products by students, staff, and school visitors at all times in school buildings, on school grounds, in school vehicles, and at all school-sponsored events on or off campus;
• prohibit all promotion of tobacco products and companies in school settings;
• implement a sequential educational program to prevent tobacco use that is integrated within the K-12 health education curriculum; is aimed at influencing students’ knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors; and is taught by well-prepared and well-supported staff;
• collaborate on community-wide efforts to prevent tobacco use and support students’ participation in them;
• provide appropriate counseling services or referrals for students and staff to help stop tobacco use and overcome nicotine addiction;
• participate in the administration of anonymous surveys to assess students’ tobacco use and other health risk behaviors; and
• designate a specific school official to be responsible for policy implementation.

POLICY EVALUATION. The district/school shall participate in the administration of anonymous student surveys to assess tobacco use and other health risk behaviors. The school health coordinator/other shall regularly monitor, evaluate, and submit an annual report to the school health advisory council/board of education/other on the implementation of this policy and its effectiveness at reducing tobacco use, along with recommendations for improvement.

Optional: Many policies include a statement of facts to justify the policy:

RATIONALE. Cigarette smoking continues to be the chief preventable cause of premature disease and death in the United States. Schools have a responsibility to help prevent tobacco use for the sake of students’ and staff members’ health and the well-being of their families. Research conclusively proves the following:

• regular use of tobacco is ultimately harmful to every user’s health, directly causing cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and premature death;
• secondhand smoke is a threat to the personal health of everyone exposed to it, especially persons with asthma and other respiratory problems;
• nicotine is a powerfully addictive substance;
• tobacco use most often begins during childhood or adolescence;
• the younger a person starts using tobacco, the more likely he or she will be a heavy user as an adult; and
• many young tobacco users will die an early, preventable death because of their decision to use tobacco.

Additional reasons why schools need to strongly discourage tobacco use are as follows:

• the use of tobacco can interfere with students’ attendance and ability to learn;
• the purchase and possession of tobacco products is illegal for persons younger than age 18 [state laws vary];
• students need to be prepared for adult life and most workplaces are now smoke-free;
• smoking is a fire safety issue for schools; and
• use of spit tobacco is both a health and sanitation issue in school facilities.

Tobacco-Free School Environment

TOBACCO USE AND POSSESSION PROHIBITED. No student, staff member, or school visitor is permitted to smoke, inhale, dip, or chew tobacco at any time, including non-school hours:

• in any building or facility;
• on school grounds, athletic grounds, or parking lots;
• in any vehicle owned or otherwise used by the school; and
• at any school-sponsored event on or off campus.

No student is permitted to possess a tobacco product on school grounds. School authorities shall consult with local law enforcement agencies to enforce laws that prohibit the possession of tobacco by minors within the immediate proximity of school grounds.

TOBACCO PROMOTION PROHIBITED. Tobacco promotional items, including clothing, bags, lighters, and other personal articles, are not permitted on school grounds, in school vehicles, or at school-sponsored events. Tobacco industry advertising, including advertising of commercial films in which tobacco smoking is featured, is prohibited in schools, school-sponsored publications, and school-sponsored events.

CLOSED CAMPUS. No student may leave the school campus during breaks in the school day to use a tobacco product. Signs to this effect will be posted at appropriate locations.[Optional]

SIGNS AND OTHER NOTICES. The superintendent/principal/other shall notify students, families, education personnel, and school visitors of the tobacco-free policy in handbooks, newsletters, announcements, and event programs; on posted notices or signs at every entrance and other prominent locations, and by other efficient means. To the extent possible, schools and districts will use local media to publicize the policies and help influence community norms about tobacco use.

POLICY ENFORCEMENT. It is the responsibility of all students, employees, and visitors to verbally admonish any person using or possessing a tobacco product or promotional item. Any tobacco product found in the possession of a student who is a minor shall be confiscated by staff and discarded. The provisions of existing policies that address the use and possession of drugs shall apply to all tobacco products.

The superintendent/principal/other shall develop and administer a range of helping and punishing enforcement responses to tobacco-use violations appropriate to the violation and the individual student or staff member. These will include educational assignments and tobacco-use cessation services as well as relevant sanctions such as community service, referral to student court, and disciplinary actions as codified in written school policy. All school staff shall participate in training on the correct, fair, and consistent enforcement of tobacco-free school policies.

Tobacco-Use Prevention Education

INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM DESIGN. As part of a comprehensive tobacco-use prevention program, tobacco-use prevention education shall be integrated within the health education program and be taught at every grade level, pre-kindergarten through twelfth. Instruction shall be most intensive in grades six through eight and reinforced in all later grades.

The educational program shall be based on theories and methods that have been proven effective by published research and consistent with the state’s/district’s/school’s health education standards/guidelines/framework. Instructional activities shall be participatory and developmentally appropriate. The program shall be designed to accomplish the following:

• instruct about immediate and long-term undesirable physiologic, cosmetic, and social consequences of tobacco use;
• decrease the social acceptability of tobacco use;
• address reasons why young people use tobacco, such as its use as a method of weight control;
• teach how to recognize and refute advertising and other social influences that promote tobacco use;
• develop students’ skills for resisting social influences that promote tobacco use;
• develop necessary assertiveness, communication, goal setting, and problem solving skills that may enable students to avoid tobacco use and other health-risk behaviors; and
• engage families as partners in their children’s education.

The state/district/school is prohibited from accepting funding, curricula, or other materials provided by the tobacco industry or its agents.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT. Tobacco-use prevention topics and skills shall be incorporated into the health education assessment program.

STAFF PREPARATION. Staff responsible for teaching tobacco-use prevention shall receive preservice training and participate in ongoing professional development activities to effectively deliver the education program as planned. Preparation and professional development activities shall provide basic knowledge about the effects of tobacco use and skill practice in effective instructional techniques.

COMMUNITY COLLABORATION. School leaders are expected to collaborate on common messages and coordinated activities with agencies and groups that conduct tobacco-use prevention education in the community. School staff shall also help interested students become involved with agencies and other organizations in the community that are working to prevent tobacco use. Guest speakers invited to address students shall receive appropriate orientation to the relevant policies of the school/district.

POLICY EVALUATION. The school health coordinator/other shall prepare an annual report to the school health advisory council/board of education/other on the implementation of this policy and its effectiveness at preventing tobacco use, with recommendations for improvement.

Tobacco-Use Cessation Services

PROGRAM AVAILABILITY. As part of a comprehensive tobacco-use prevention program, the school shall provide referrals to community resources and programs to help students and staff members overcome nicotine addiction. School counselors or community agencies are encouraged to establish voluntary tobacco-use cessation programs at school. Planning for such services should be based on findings from needs assessment activities and periodically evaluated for effectiveness and participant satisfaction.

PROGRAM ATTENDANCE. Attendance or completion of a tobacco-use cessation program shall not be mandatory for anyone or used as a penalty. Attendance or completion of a tobacco-use cessation program is allowed as a voluntary substitute to suspension for use or possession of tobacco.

MEDICATIONS. Nicotine is a highly addictive and harmful drug. Existing policies regarding the possession, use, and storage of medications at school shall apply to medications containing nicotine that are prescribed to relieve withdrawal symptoms, including gum, patches, lozenges, snus, sprays, inhalers, and tablets.

POLICY EVALUATION. The school health coordinator/other shall prepare an annual report to the school health advisory council/board of education/other on the implementation of this policy and its effectiveness at helping students and staff members stop using tobacco, with recommendations for improvement.