Rockwood schools meet tobacco-free "gold standard"

The Rockwood School District has become the first school district in St. Louis County to reach the "gold standard" of tobacco-free policies that are part of the county health department's federally-financed anti-smoking effort.
To obtain that standard, the district has to abide by 40 policies and practices that generally prohibit smoking on school property, enforce the ban on students, staff and visitors, point out smoking cessation programs and make the policy clear to everyone.
Ken McManus, coordinator of prevention services for the Rockwood School District, said the district met the "gold standard" by placing the wording of its tobacco-free policies in one place. The staff used a checklist from a survey of public school districts the county effort conducted last September as a guideline for consolidating wording and making district policy more clear, he said.
The school board adopted the reworked policy on March 10, he said.
The county and district held an event Monday at Eureka High School to note the "gold standard" designation.