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CORRECTION

A story published in Sunday’s Tribune with the headline “Mishawaka students face vaping fines” reported 40 Mishawaka students had received out-of-school-suspension so far this year for tobacco use. In fact, those students were allowed to choose between two punishments, and 26 of them chose in-school suspension and educational sessions with DARE officer Lt. Tim Williams. The story also originally quoted Williams saying there had been no repeat offenses this year, but Mishawaka High Dean of Students Jessica Mann said there have been four repeat offenses this year, with one student facing expulsion after three offenses.
Mishawaka High School students caught vaping on campus now face real-life consequences.

A policy enacted this school year allows resource officers to issue tickets to students caught vaping at least twice. The citations aren’t criminal, but they come with a $145 court fine and other legal consequences similar to traffic tickets. And they potentially remain on teens’ records permanently.

School officials say the more drastic discipline was needed because of the surging number of students vaping, a practice in which nicotine is heated and inhaled through a pen-like device.

Last school year, Mishawaka students received 75 out-of-school suspensions for tobacco use. So far this year, 26 students have chosen in-school-suspension and educational sessions with DARE officer Lt. Tim Williams as punishment and some of the other 14 students opted for OSS for the first offense.

Officials say the number of students vaping at school is “at least two to three times” higher, as many students share the devices.

“We were shocked. We thought, ‘This is a lot. Is this normal? How do we combat this?’” Jessica Mann, dean of students at Mishawaka High School, told the school board during a recent meeting.

“We could spend $40,000 on vape sensors in our bathrooms, but all of that seems like after the fact,” she said. “We want to help students quit.”

Board member Holly Parks applauded the policy, saying the $145 fine “should be higher.”

“I think with our community and the parents that are aware or don’t stop it or encourage it, when we start to hit them with the finances of it, it will hopefully make a difference,” Parks said.

But one Indiana expert on school discipline who reviewed Mishawaka’s policy disagrees with it, saying it could have unintended consequences.

Russ Skiba, a professor at Indiana University, said researchers have demonstrated that students who have appeared in court — which is required of Mishawaka students who receive a ticket — are more likely to drop out of high school. And dropouts are more likely than graduates to be incarcerated or unemployed.
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