24/7 Tobacco-Free Schools

While schools are required to be tobacco-free (as stated in Title 70), there are still many ways in which a school can strengthen their District’s policies. The easiest way to start is by checking to make sure you have included vaping and vapor products within all aspects of your policy and by removing any previous exclusions (such as teacherages). It may be helpful to separate definitions of tobacco products and vapor products, as opposed to including vapor products in the tobacco product definition. Be sure to include no tobacco or vapor product use in school vehicles or any vehicle used in transporting students and during any school-sponsored activities and events. You may also restrict the possession of tobacco or vapor products by a student. Title 63 also requires that these policies prohibit the smoking and/or vaping of marijuana. When in doubt, make sure your policy covers all products at all times and in all places and that it covers all people, including visitors and guests. 

There are 29 technology center districts located in Oklahoma which are governed by a separate government entity than other school districts which means that your school’s tobacco policy may look different than other school districts. While, according to Title 63 you may be allowed to have designated smoking areas, you also have the unique ability to create a completely tobacco free environment. In addition to the suggestions above, you are legally allowed to remove the technology center district exemption note that is found within most policies within these district areas (typically a note or box at the bottom of the policy). For these districts, as with other school districts, the smoking and/or vaping of marijuana is still prohibited in the same sense as tobacco products. 

Yes, Breathe Easy has free a sample tobacco-free policy made specifically for schools which includes all the suggestions above. You may also send us an email through the Contact Us tab for assistance. Should you choose to use our sample policy, we strongly encourage you to you read through the policy in its entirety before putting it into effect to be sure you and your employees understand the new policy and agree with its points.

According to the Department of Human Services, daycares are only required to be tobacco-free at all times within facility buildings, outdoor areas on property, at least 15 feet away from entrances and out of sight of any children during operational hours. At-home daycares only need to have smoke-free buildings and outdoor areas during operational hours. This means at-home daycares have the unique ability to make their facility's policy even stronger by including being tobacco-free even after working hours. All daycares, regardless of location, can improve on these basic requirements by including secondhand and thirdhand smoke exposure prevention into their policy. Require workers to have a change of clothes and wash their hands after each smoke break, not coming into work smelling of smoke, or remove any designated smoking areas and prohibiting smoke breaks. There is no legal right to smoke, nor any laws protecting smoking behaviors, making these extra provisions completely legal.