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HIGHLANDS RANCH DAYS
Ballot decision irks committee members School board decides against bond measure By Mike DiFerdinando mdiferdinando@colorado communitymedia.com
Josie Raye Runningwolf, 8, of Westminster dances to a Native American drum beat for a crowd of engaged children during Highlands Ranch Days at the Highlands Ranch Mansion last week. Photo by Taryn Walker READ MORE ABOUT HIGHLANDS RANCH DAYS ON PAGE 4
New law helps enforce ban on e-cig use among teens Sheriff’s office welcomes ‘more teeth’ and higher consequences
By Shanna Fortier sfortier@coloradocommunitymedia.com Although schools already ban use of any tobacco products on campuses, it is now illegal in unincorporated Douglas County for anyone under 18 to possess e-cigarettes, vapor pens or any other alternate devices of ingesting nicotine. The Douglas County Commission’s action Sept. 8 expanded its existing ordinance prohibiting minor possession of tobacco to include products developed in recent years. “We see it as a huge issue, especially since vapor pens carry more than just tobacco and juveniles are very resourceful,” said Sgt. Myra Buys of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. In the past, School Resource Officers have written tickets for tobacco and confiscated the product, but the emergence of vapor pens over the past couple years has made it difficult to regulate. “Since they weren’t illegal to possess or own for juveniles, we were at a standstill and we didn’t know how we were going to approach the whole issue,” Buys said. “Now, this is a way for us to enforce the fact that they are not allowed to have a vapor pen at school or on their persons until they are the
THE RULES It is now illegal in unincorporated Douglas County for minors to possess cigarettes and tobacco products, including ecigarettes, vaporizers, hookahs and other emerging products to using tobacco. If a minor is given a citation, it will be a Class 2 petty offense and a $100 fine, the same penalty as the old ordinance. The Douglas County School District policy already defined tobacco products as “all kinds and forms of tobacco such as
age of 18.” The ordinance won’t change the way the school district deals with tobacco issues because it has always forbidden any kind of tobacco products, from cigarettes to smokeless tobacco to emerging paraphernalia for smoking. “We are noticing that some students are trying to use them in classrooms and hallways because they can be zeropercent nicotine,” said Cyndi Fern, prevention relations lead for Douglas County School District. “But in our policy, anything that you can use tobacco for is still against school rules.” According to the district’s code of conduct, district policy focuses on educational alternatives to suspension, confiscation of tobacco products and a ticket. E-cigs continues on Page 6
cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, dissolvables, electronic cigarettes, paraphernalia and other emerging products suitable for chewing or smoking and any other product that is packaged for smoking.” All are forbidden on school grounds. A person must be 18 years old to buy cigarettes anywhere in the United States. The same applies to any tobacco products or devices that can be used to ingest nicotine.
WHAT THEY ARE Electronic cigarette Battery operated inhalers that consist of a rechargeable battery, a cartridge called a cartomizer and an LED that lights up at the end when you puff on the device. Hookah An Oriental tobacco pipe with a long, flexible tube that draws the smoke through water contained in a bowl. Vaporizer Any device that features a heating element and a chamber in which the vaping material — which may be dry herbs, oil, wax or e-juice — is heated up to create vapor.
Some parents and community members are criticizing the Douglas County School District for failing to put a bond measure on the November ballot to help pay for $275 million in construction and maintenance needs, such as replacing failing furnaces and air conditioning units and adding classroom space to address overcrowding. “In March, the (School Accountability Committees) of 28 Douglas County schools created and signed a formal position statement in support of placing a bond initiative on the November ballot, so all community members would have the chance to vote on maintaining our public assets,” Kristen Kidd, Mountain Vista High School District Accountability Committee liaison, said in an emailed statement. “The board decided voters should not be given that choice.” According to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, Aug. 3 was the last day to file an initiative petition for the November election and Sept. 2 was the last day for those petitions to be ruled sufficient or not by the state. If voters had approved a bond measure, their school tax bill would have remained unchanged. Instead, with no new bond measure, tax bills are estimated to drop by about $36 a year. Douglas County School Board President Kevin Larsen said the timing of the Sept. 8 statement was “a political statement and a way to get publicity.” Laura Mutton — chairwoman of the Mountain Vista School Accountability Committee and president of the nonprofit Strong Schools Coalition — said that is not the case. “Parent leaders have asked to meet with the board and discuss putting a bond on the ballot and, after being ignored, waited patiently for the board to make a decision regarding this measure,” Mutton said. “Because the board has never made a public decision on whether or not they would place a bond on the ballot, we were not certain of their intentions until this week.” Data from the district’s Long Range Planning Committee showed capital needs are growing at the rate of $25 million to $35 million annually. According to Larsen, the planning committee figures are inflated because they include long-term growth projects such as new buildings and schools. “For many decades, the way to look at it was to pick an arbitrary number — say five years — and say ‘we’re going to look at what potential expenditures are coming up in the next five years. But it really wasn’t as fiscally rigorous as you would think because it didn’t prioritize all the needs,” Larsen said. “It basically went on an industry schedule of when things could fail or how old something is. That’s where (that number) keeps coming up, because you’re adding things that are scheduled instead of looking at every building, every school, every item and actually assessing the conditions and prioritizing.” The planning committee identified $38.8 million in new construction needs. “Although the district may be addressing immediate needs, their budget doesn’t devote enough resources to cover the projected annual growth in capital needs,” Mutton said. “Without a longterm plan, the board is allowing the capital needs of publicly funded assets to balloon, resulting in a much larger problem in future years. Frankly, that is fiscally irresponsible.” Larsen also said he believes the community does not want the bond measure, pointing to failures of similar initiatives at the ballot box in 2008 and 2011. In 2014, the board voted not to put the measure on the ballot, saying Douglas County residents — already overburdened and paying a disproportionate share of taxes — were unlikely to approve a local funding question. “When we did outreach and got feedback from the community, the overwhelming response was that they would be supportive of bonds for growth, and when we are in a phase of growth we will be looking at that among other solutions,” Larsen
Bond continues on Page 7