State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Tobacco-Use Prevention Grants
Concern raised on proliferation of other nicotine-delivery devices
SACRAMENTO—Work by educators to decrease smoking among students received a boost today as State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced 14 California school districts will share almost $17 million in tobacco-use prevention grants from the state.
The list of grantees for the total $16.6 million in Tobacco-Use Prevention Education (TUPE): Grades 6-12 Cohort J Tier 2 grants is attached.
"The safety and well-being of our students are at the heart of what we do as educators,"Torlakson said. "Leaders across California have made great strides in the fight against smoking, but the rise of e-cigarettes and other developments means that our work is far from over."
The TUPE grant is one mechanism in the California Tobacco Control Program. This program, along with an ongoing partnership between the California Department of Education, the California Department of Public Health, and the University of California Office of the President, have contributed to the drop in tobacco use among youths in California. Smoking prevalence—a vital marker of progress in tobacco control—decreased 48 percent for eighth-graders and 53 percent for tenth-graders from 1996–2008. Smoking prevalence also decreased 17 percent for twelfth-graders from 2000–08. Also, smoking prevalence among California's high school students was about 15 percent lower in 2008 than the rate for high school students in other states.
However, over the past several years, new nicotine products—including electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), smokeless tobacco pouches, dissolvable strips, nasal inhalers, nicotine-laced water, and oral powder delivery systems—have become increasingly popular. For e-cigarettes, which can sometimes be used for illegal substances beyond nicotine, usage more than doubled in 2011-12 among middle school and high school students in the United States.
Torlakson sent a letter to schools last month, encouraging administrators to update their tobacco-free policies to include the prohibition of e-cigarettes and other nicotine delivery systems. The TUPE grant may be used to assist schools in this effort. The TUPE grant is a state program authorized by Health & Safety Code Section 104420. The funds support health education efforts aimed at the prevention and reduction of tobacco use by youth.
The TUPE grant for grades six through twelve is awarded through a competitive grant application process. Funding is awarded based on the grantees' quality of projects to implement research-validated prevention programs for students, provide youth development activities, and provide intervention and cessation services to students currently using tobacco. Only local educational agencies serving students in grade six through twelve and certified tobacco-free were eligible for this round of funding, which is for 2014–17. There have been several rounds of funding since the passage of Proposition 99 in 1988, which provides the funding for tobacco-use prevention education in California's schools.
For information on the grant, visit the California Department of Education's Tobacco-Use Prevention Education: Grades 6-12 Cohort J Tier 2 funding profile. For general information on California's efforts to make schools tobacco free, visit the Tobacco-Use Prevention Education Program Web page.
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Attachment
Tobacco-Use Prevention Education
Grades 6-12 Cohort J Tier 2 Funding Results
County | Local Educational Agency | Requested Funding |
|---|---|---|
Contra Costa | Contra Costa County Office of Education | $1,165,310.00 |
Los Angeles | Los Angeles County Office of Education | $1,094,274.00 |
Napa | Napa County Office of Education | $550,781.00 |
Orange | Orange County Department of Education | $1,778,760.00 |
Orange | Anaheim Union High School District | $1,850,094.00 |
Riverside | Hemet Unified School District | $584,334.00 |
Sacramento | Elk Grove Unified School District | $1,710,903.00 |
Sacramento | Folsom Cordova Unified School District | $499,824.00 |
Sacramento | Sacramento City Unified School District | $1,009,098.00 |
Sacramento | San Juan Unified School District | $1,061,250.12 |
San Diego | San Diego County Office of Education | $1,324,404.00 |
San Francisco | San Francisco Unified School District | $1,487,138.94 |
Solano | Solano County Office of Education | $497,934.00 |
Stanislaus | Stanislaus County Office of Education | $1,999,998.00 |
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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100