Denton ISD Board exempts district from new state vaping law

The Denton ISD Board of Trustees recently exempted the district from a new state law on vaping.

On Sept. 26, the board approved an amendment to the current District of Innovation plan that provides an exemption to Texas Education Code: §37.006, which will exempt Denton ISD from the requirements of House Bill 114 as it applies to e-cigarette offenses that do not involve prohibited drugs, according to a district news release.

The change in Texas Education Code is in response to HB 114 that ramps up punishment for student vape usage, which went into effect on Sept. 1 after its passage in the 88th Texas Legislative Session. The new law applies to the placement of a student in a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) if the student is found to possess, use, sell, give, or deliver to another person an e-cigarette device, regardless of whether the e-cigarette contains a controlled substance.

“We will continue to bolster the types of services that we provide to students with e-cigarettes, regardless of whether they are a controlled substance or not,” said Deron Robinson, Denton ISD General Counsel. “We know this is an issue and an epidemic for our community’s young people that we have to address, and we are addressing it at every campus.”

With the approval of the DOI amendment, vaping or the use of e-cigarettes that do not contain controlled substances will receive consequences as outlined in the Code of Conduct – and will not be an automatic DAEP placement.

All violations involving controlled substances, however, will receive a DAEP placement as is required by law, according to Denton ISD.

“I think the issue with [HB 114] is it puts the consequence first instead of the people,” said Dr. Jeff Russell, Area Superintendent. “I think zero tolerance policies really limit our practitioners on the campus level and don’t allow them to make the best decisions for kids. Our District of Innovation approved this amendment unanimously, and we received a lot of feedback from them about how they think it is a really good idea that we implement this at the local level.”