Transcript Recommended Changes for Carnevale, Springfield, DelSesto

Tobacco Free Policy:
Implementation action plan and
procedural guidelines Update
Tomas E. Ramirez, Ph.D.
Acting Assistant Superintendent for Human
Resources and Labor Relations
March 14, 2011
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Quick Update
• December 2010- Adoption of Tobacco Free Policy for Students and
Staff
• January 2011- Office of Human Resources charged with the task of
developing an implementation plan for the adult portion of the
Tobacco Free Policy
• January to March- Convening of small work groups and meetings
with select individuals to ready for the work of a larger task force; the
task force will take a comprehensive review of the intended goals of
the adopted policy and will develop short and long range plans for
its full implementation (i.e., communication, enforcement, data
collection and analysis as part of a yearly evaluation, other)
Quick Update – cont’d
Tasks Accomplished to Date:
 Preparation of draft memo to employees regarding the policy; memo shared with
representatives of the various unions and PPSD legal counsel
 Preparation of Tobacco Free Incident Report Form (complaint form) for the
reporting of policy violations
 The identification of key personnel and their roles and responsibilities for the
implementation of the policy
 Planning meeting held with LifeWatch, our Employee Assistance Program
provider, for smoking cessation programs; referrals and counseling are at no cost
to our employees
Next Proposed Planned Briefing to School Board:
 Monday, May 9, 2011– A report of the full task force
Additional Information Regarding Policy
Implementation
Additional Information regarding policy
implementation
•
Section #1: Five steps to implementing the school board’s adopted Tobacco
Free Policy
•
Section #2: Potential obstacles to implementing the policy to its full extent
•
Section #3: Evaluating the impact of the Tobacco Free Policy and its
implementation
•
Section #4: Preparing for future policy revisions as an ongoing process of
policy implementation and changes in law and ordinance
Charge and scope of implementation
Charge to Human Resources:
•
Develop an implementation action plan for adults as required by the
Tobacco Free Policy
•
Provide the School Board with an update on the work to date
Section #1: Five steps to implementing the
Tobacco Free Policy
•
Step 1 – Convene a task force to define the policy and the scope of its
implementation
•
Step 2 - Set a timeline for implementation along with corresponding
person(s) responsible for deliverables
•
Step 3 – Specify strategies for the promulgation of the policy
•
Step 4- Establish clear expectations for compliance grounded on the
principles of progressive discipline
•
Step 5 – Provide opportunities for referrals to tobacco cessation programs
Five steps to implementing the Tobacco
Free Policy
Step 1: Convene a task force to define the policy and the scope of
its implementation

Initial task force comprised of internal personnel and select partners; task force will expand to
include wider representation of stakeholders
Defining Question: What is the policy?
Sample follow-up questions:




Who is impacted by the policy?
Can employees smoke or use tobacco products in their vehicles while on school department
property?
Can a visitor attending a sporting event smoke or use tobacco products in their own vehicles
while on school department property?
How will the school department enforce compliance for a visitor who refuses to comply with
the policy? Will the Providence Police Department assist?
Five steps to implementing the Tobacco
Free Policy
Step 2- Set a timeline for implementation along with corresponding
person(s) responsible for deliverables
•
Plan for deliverables that can be implemented in the short term and
deliverables that will be ongoing and long term
•
Ensure consultation with organizations that are working on tobacco
cessation programs (i.e., American Lung Association; LifeWatch)
•
Ensure implementation becomes a yearly component of the opening of
school orientation for all faculty and staff
Five steps to implementing the Tobacco
Free Policy
Step 3: Specify strategies for the promulgation of the policy
Identify initial dissemination strategies

Administrative memorandum to all employees

Announcement of the policy and its implementation on the district’s website

Wide distribution of procedural reporting forms

Identification of the location and person(s) for the filing of complaints
Identify long range plans and ongoing strategies

Signage on school buildings and doors

Education and training

Opening of school reminders

Information included in parent handbook and translated in different languages
Five steps to implementing the Tobacco
Free Policy
Step 4- Establish clear expectations for compliance grounded on
the principles of progressive discipline
Important that all employees have a clear understanding of what is expected of
them for compliance of this policy
 What is the policy?
 Why was the policy adopted?
 What are the principles of progressive discipline and how will
progressive discipline be instituted?
 How can employees access tobacco cessation programs if they wish to
explore this option?
 In what ways can the various bargaining unions further assist in the
promulgation of the policy?
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Why was the policy adopted?
2010 Report of the Office of the Surgeon General

How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for SmokingAttributable Disease.
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/tobaccosmoke/report/executivesummary.pdf
Major Findings:

Tobacco is a public heath epidemic

Cigarettes are responsible for approximately 443,000 deaths in the United States each year– one
in every five deaths

One-half of all long-term smokers are killed by smoking-related diseases
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Why was the policy adopted? – cont’d
 A large proportion of these deaths are from early heart attacks,
chronic lung diseases, and cancers
 Nonsmokers suffer the consequences of second hand smoke–
thousands die each year from heart disease and lung cancer
 There is no safe tobacco product and there is no risk-free level of
exposure to tobacco smoke
 When individuals inhale cigarette smoke, directly or as secondhand
smoke, they inhale more than 7,000 chemicals– hundreds of these
are hazardous and 69 of them cause cancer
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Preventable
In the United States, tobacco use remains the single largest
preventable cause of death and disease for both men and women
Prevention strategies include:
 Monitoring the tobacco epidemic and prevention policies
 Protecting people from secondhand smoke
 Offering quit assistance to current smokers
 Warnings about the dangers of tobacco
 Enforcing comprehensive restrictions on tobacco advertising,
promotion, and sponsorship
 Raising taxes and prices on tobacco products
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Five steps to implementing the Tobacco
Free Policy
Step 5- Provide opportunities for referrals to tobacco cessation
programs

Enlist the assistance of the district Health Services Administrator and the
district’s Wellness Committee

Establish linkages with tobacco cessation program providers for the
confidential referral of employees who may want explore this option

Develop multiple means of outreach
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Section #2
Potential obstacles to implementing the
policy to its full extent
Section #2: Potential obstacles to implementing
the policy to its full extent
 Smokers’ right to smoke issue: Important to emphasize that the
policy is not a policy for the prohibition of the right of people to
smoke or use other tobacco products; adults just need to respect the
policy as adopted by the Providence School Board
 Funding to ensure the timely replacement of signage on school
buildings and other school department property
 Enforcement of policy for adults who are not employed by
Providence Public Schools (i.e., visitors to sporting events held on
PPSD facilities)
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Section #3: Evaluating the impact of the Tobacco
Free Policy and its implementation
 The office of Research, Planning and Accountability will assist in an
annual evaluation of policy implementation and compliance focused
on:

Communication of policy to new staff, existing faculty, students, parents, visitors (through
media and signage)

Enforcement of policy incl. any disciplinary actions and referrals to supports/helpline for
cessation

Adherence/compliance (environmental scan of appropriate signage, observation of cigarette
butts/people smoking on campus, any surveys asking about policy awareness and
compliance)

Knowledge, attitudes, beliefs & use (SurveyWorks! as source for rate of student
perceptions/attitudes associated with tobacco use and actual use; possible survey of faculty
and parents
 Evaluation plan can only be finalized after elements of policy and
guidance are firmly established
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Section #4: Preparing for future policy revisions as an
ongoing process of policy implementation and changes in
law
 Ongoing collection of data to inform policy implementation and
decision making
 Monitoring of the passage of bills that become law at the Rhode
Island General Assembly
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List of work group members and individuals who
have been invited to take part in development of
the implementation plan
Guy Alba
Marco Andrade
Carole Bernardo (LifeWatch)
Kenneth Chiavarini
June Daniel
Stephanie Federico
Betty Jackson
Carleton Jones
Aubrey Lombardo
Jo-Anne Micheletti
Donna O’Connor
Joyce O’Connor
Janet Pichardo
Larry Roberti
Julie Sacks
Kristen Sampson
Peter Santos
Andre Thibeault
Steve Tremblay
Lisa Vargas-Sinapi
Charlene Vela
Paul Vorro
Additional members to be invited to take part in the task force include parents, community based
organizations, PPSD’s Wellness Committee, and others.
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