School smoking ban
moves to House floor

The bill would stop
even custodians from
lighting up on campus

---

By Susan Essoyan
sessoyan@starbulletin.com

Public school custodians, the only people still officially allowed to smoke on campus, would be prohibited from doing so under a bill that cleared its last House committee yesterday.

Legislature Directory Legislature Bills & Hawaii Revised Statutes

All the testimony before the Committee on Labor and Public Employment supported the ban on smoking at public schools. The bill, introduced by Rep. Dennis Arakaki (D, Alewa Heights-Kalihi), passed unanimously and now goes to the House floor.

"If we are ever going to effectively prohibit smoking in our public schools, we have to start with the public employees working there," said Kathleen Watanabe, state director of Human Resources Development. "Students say, 'They can do it, why can't I?'"

The Department of Education instituted a smoke-free policy for the public schools in 1993, but the United Public Workers objected, saying it violated the custodial workers' contract. An arbitrator sided with the union, and custodians have continued to smoke in designated areas, including indoors.

House Bill 248 removes their exemption, by specifying that smoking is not subject to collective-bargaining negotiation. A section of the bill that imposed fines was deleted.

The bill would bring Hawaii's public schools in line with federal law, which prohibits smoking indoors at school, and takes things a step further by prohibiting smoking anywhere on campus. Two similar bills introduced in the Senate, however, have not been heard.

"I have seen and smelled cigarette smoke coming from the janitor's office at my school," Kapono Gaughen, 11, of Waikoloa Elementary School, wrote in a letter to the committee. "I learn during D.A.R.E. in school not to smoke. When I see the smoke from the janitor's office, I fear for my health."

The House bill also had the support of the Department of Education, the governor, the Hawaii State Parent Teacher Student Association, health groups and private citizens.

Rep. Mark Moses (R, Makakilo-Kapolei) expressed concern about employees who would be forced to quit but ultimately voted in favor.

"You don't know how difficult it is for people who smoke to just all of a sudden stop," said Moses, who smoked for two decades before quitting.

Committee members also raised questions about how well the current smoking policy is enforced, noting that some students and employees violate it. Officials responded that a uniform ban would be easier to monitor and was important to avoid sending mixed messages to students.

"We do everything in our power to make sure it is enforced," said Wendell Staszkow, acting director of the Education Department's Office of Human Resources. "We owe it to our children to keep the climate as smoke-free as possible."