By Tony Marrero, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Board member Dianne Bonfield argued to extend the ban to all property.
BROOKSVILLE — Faced with a proposal to ban tobacco from all school district property, the School Board opted to butt out.
The comprehensive tobacco-free policy, advocated by the state Department of Health, would forbid smoking and other forms of tobacco use on all district property, including athletic fields and parking lots.
That would have meant snuffing out all tobacco use not just on school campuses but also on other property where students rarely or never go, such as the maintenance office and the district administration headquarters in Brooksville.
That's going too far, a majority of board members agreed during a workshop Tuesday.
"At the end of the day, is smoking a smart choice? No, it's not," member Matt Foreman said. "But do you have the ability, as ...