On March 1, a public announcement was presented by principal Scott Bacon about a new policy.

Due to the frequent usage of vapes and other illegal substances on school property, new penalties were introduced.

The new penalties include a five-day out-of-school suspension (OSS) with a reduction to three days with an agreement to engage in Aspire, an educational program teaching students the dangers and potential hazards of vaping.

Distribution or the sale of vapes will result in up to a 10-day OSS and a district hearing, which may result in additional days of suspension.

“I would ask a lot of students, how do you know what’s in [vape juice] — they don’t,” Bacon said. “A lot of the vape juice is laced with various things, including THC, that make it a lot more dangerous than what people think they’re actually consuming.”

This policy was created because of continuous research about the dangers of vaping.

Research has shown Nicotine is the primary agent in both regular cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and it is highly addictive. It causes cravings and suffering of withdrawal symptoms if cravings are ignored. Nicotine is also a toxic substance. It raises blood pressure and spikes adrenaline, which increases heart rate and the likelihood of having a heart attack.

“This has probably become an epidemic within our schools,” Bacon said. “The previous policy that we had wasn’t much of a deterrent to it.”

Before this policy was released, the school would treat it as a tobacco type product that would start with the terms of an infraction or school consequence. It would include a school suspension and then graduate from there, based upon the number of times that it was encountered.

“We don’t want it on our campus — it is an illegal substance for students,” Bacon said. “[Because of] the age our students are, we need to have a policy that commensurates with that.”

Students raise their voice on the subject.

“It’s something that affects everybody. When people do it in the bathroom, they infringe it on the other people in there as well. People need to be more educated on it.”

—Piper Puccetti, 10

“I think it’s dumb and way overdramatic. If kids want to [vape], they should be able to make their own decisions.”

—Matteo Leone, 9

64% of students at Blue Valley are discouraged from vaping because of this policy

160 students surveyed