AISD Reworks Vaping Policy With Education-Based Approach

AUSTIN, Texas — Austin ISD is reworking how they deal with students caught with vapes, with an education-based approach.

The district said instead of immediate disciplinary actions for people caught with vapes, students will have to go through informational training on the dangers of nicotine and peer pressure.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, vaping and e-cigarettes continue to grow in popularity, especially among teens.

The FDA states, that more than one in four teens in the United States use vapes daily; in Texas, 19% of high school students vape.

“Vaping is a huge concern for us,” said AISD Discipline Standards Director, Oscar Adams.

To tackle the teen vaping epidemic, Texas House Bill 114 was passed in September of 2023.

The law bans e-cigarettes from schools and requires students in violation to be placed into a District Alternative Learning Education Program (DAEP).

Earlier this year, the AISD Board of Trustees allowed an exemption for the district to move forward with their education-based approach, before placing students in DAEP.

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According to their student codes of conduct, at Round Rock ISD, students caught with vapes face up to 15 days of DAEP– at Lake Travis ISD, repeat offenders can face up to 45 days.

“We want to be even more proactive with educating students on the front end about the harmful effects of vaping,” said Adams.

He added, “This allows us to be able to address [vaping] with education, prior to using punitive consequences.”

Ty Schepis, a professor at Texas State, said AISD’s new approach could have a better chance of getting teens to quit vaping, than typical disciplinary action.

“You’re really typically not going to see much success from a very punitive approach that just punishes the use. If anything, adolescents will just get smarter about hiding it, which for their long-term health, we would much rather they change that behavior,” Schepis said.

So far, AISD said they’re ahead of the curve with getting teens to quit– they’re reporting a decline in rates of students caught with vapes.

Adams said, “With our proactive measures, we’ve actually seen a reduction in the number of vaping incidents from last school year.”

“We want [students] to be in the right state of mind, the right frame, and just making sure that they’re taking care of their bodies.”