Los Gatos Weekly-Times Photograph by George Sakkestad Los Gatos High School students Zac Swigart (center) and Weston Rowan (right) take a smoke break near the high school during their lunch break. LGHS administration, cops cracking down on smokers By Michelle Alaimo Students at Los Gatos High School aren't smoking on campus. They're smoking off campus--but just barely. Each day, droves of students make their way to Church Street or directly across from the school to get their nicotine fix. Not only is it against the school rules to smoke during school hours, it's illegal. And officials are cracking down. LGHS has upped the number of campus supervisors from two to three, and all four administrators help patrol the campus at lunchtime, Kathleen Eaton, assistant principal of discipline and attendance, said. School rules state that the campus is only open during lunch, Eaton said. This means students are not allowed to leave campus to catch a quick smoke during the six-minute breaks between classes. She adds that the rules haven't changed since last year, they are just being enforced more strictly. Students caught smoking by administrators during closed-campus school hours are reprimanded by officials. A first-time offense lands the student in a day-long, in-house smokeless session.The session educates students about the dangers of smoking. Smokers caught a second time find themselves with a one-day suspension and in a second-level smokers awareness session. And third-time offenders end up on a behavior contract and the police are also notified. Eaton said third-time offenders are considered to be in defiance. If they continue to get caught smoking during school hours, students could end up expelled, Eaton said. "We're not trying to take the kids' fun away," Eaton said. "We're just trying to keep them from having emphysema and lung cancer." So far, the school has had no third-time offenders this year, Eaton said. Not only do students who leave campus when the campus is closed face school consequences, they can face legal consequences as well. "What usually happens is students know about not smoking on school grounds, but then they take the chance of going off school grounds in violation of the law," officer John Campos of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department, said. Penal Code 308.B states that minors cannot possess any tobacco products. This includes cigarettes, chewing tobacco and cigars, Campos said. He added that prior to penal code 308.B becoming law in January 1997, 50 to 100 kids would go across the street from the high school and smoke and the police could do nothing. "Now, we don't have to see them smoking, we just have to see them in possession of tobacco products," Campos said. Juveniles in violation can be fined $75 and made to perform up to 30 hours of community service for each incident. LG-MSPD averages 10 citations a month, Campos said. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, November 4, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.