Smoking in boys' room a concern at HHS

Apparently some students have been smoking in the boys' and girls' bathrooms in the west end of Hudson High School, which caused the lavatories to be locked up and provoked discussion at last Tuesday's school board meeting.

Board president, Jerome McAllister, brought the situation before the forum. He said that he received a report that all four bathrooms in the west wing of the school had been locked because a few students used them for smoking lounges, thus punishing everybody.

"I don't see this as a way to solve the problem," he said. "This is not the United States Army."

Board member Buck Malick interjected that the procedure was, "kind of a rough tool," and used "a shotgun approach rather than a pinpoint."

Board member Steve Keller said that probably the only way to solve the problem would be to station a monitor in each rest room but doubted the district wanted to go through that kind of expense.

Beth Lanning, HHS principal, said that of the 12 bathrooms in the school, only two were locked up because they were being used for smoking.

"I think what we did to address the situation was appropriate," she said. "There were still five bathrooms of each sex available to the students."

Lanning said part of the problem stems from the fact the school had two monitors last year. "We started the year with none and we only have one monitor now," she said.

She said that the monitor is a female, so if there is smoking in the boys' room, she has to get one of her assistants or a male teacher to confront the situation.

The principal noted that with only one monitor, the entire school can't be covered, so the area or greatest abuse was locked up.

A Hudson city ordinance prohibits the possession of tobacco by persons under 18 years old, which can result in a $50 fine.

Lanning said the school writes up a report on the offending student and sends a copy to the police, who in turn send a ticket to the offender's home. "It comes out to $98.50 per ticket with court costs," she said.