Dear Friends and Community Members,
I hope this message finds you well, and I want to start by saying thank you again for signing our petition calling for stronger action against student vaping at Corning–Painted Post High School. Your willingness to stand up for our students' safety means the world to me, and I'm grateful for your support even though we haven't seen the traction we hoped for yet.
I wanted to share an update with you following a meeting I had earlier this week with Principal Robin Sheehan to discuss what measures the school has taken to address vaping and the very real risks we outlined in our petition.
What the School Is Currently Doing:
I learned that the school does have a code of conduct in place to address vaping and drug use on school grounds. Their official policy lists both "Smoking/Chewing/Vaping" and "Use and/or Possession of Drugs, Alcohol" as Major Infractions, which can result in Out-of-School Suspension and/or In-School Suspension.1 This policy is being enforced, and students caught in violation face these disciplinary consequences.
Principal Sheehan also shared that first-time offenders may be offered education with a counselor in lieu of suspension—which I think is a thoughtful approach for students who may not fully understand the risks they're taking.
The school has also installed vape detectors in bathrooms to monitor and detect when vapes are being used. These detectors do trigger often, but Principal Sheehan shared that at times there simply aren't enough school officials available to respond to every alert. That reality really underscores the scope of what we're dealing with.
The Bigger Picture:
What became clear in our conversation is that this problem is far greater than the school can control on its own. While New York State law makes it illegal to sell vaping products to anyone under 21, there is currently no state law that makes possession illegal for teens.2, 3 This means that while retailers face serious penalties for selling to minors—including fines and loss of their business licenses—there are no legal consequences at the state level for students who possess these products.2 The enforcement challenge falls almost entirely on the schools through their disciplinary policies, which makes their job incredibly difficult.
The school has offered seminars and educational sessions to help parents learn more about these issues, but attendance has been disappointingly low. There's a real challenge in figuring out how best to reach the community members who most need the facts around vaping.
Looking Ahead—Ideas for Moving Forward:
Principal Sheehan and I discussed several ideas for addressing the low engagement, and I'm hopeful that some of these approaches might help us reach more families:
Asynchronous information sharing on the risks of vaping and the pervasive problem the school is facing could be distributed to parents through platforms like the Remind app, since in-person attendance has been so low
A grassroots, organic movement coming from the students themselves, perhaps working with School Resource Officers to create peer-to-peer awareness
A video or media campaign targeted on the risks of vaping, similar to the video produced at Thanksgiving that captured students' voices—something that might resonate more deeply with teens than traditional educational approaches
Why I'm Still Hopeful:
I'll be honest—I'm disappointed that our petition hasn't gained more signatures, and it's hard not to feel discouraged when attendance at safety meetings is low. But I cannot believe that we're going to give up on protecting our kids. This meeting reinforced for me that the school is trying, but they need our help. They need parents who are informed, engaged, and willing to have difficult conversations with their teens about these dangers.
The reality is that schools are fighting this battle with one hand tied behind their backs—they can discipline students through suspensions and educational interventions, but without state laws that address teen possession, the legal system offers them limited support. That makes our role as parents and community members even more critical.
If you have ideas about how we can better reach our community, or if you'd be willing to help with any grassroots efforts to raise awareness, I would absolutely love to hear from you. Sometimes the most powerful change comes from small groups of committed people who refuse to stay silent.
Thank you again for caring about this issue and for being willing to add your voice. I appreciate each and every one of you, and I'm grateful we're in this together.
With hope and determination,
Shari
Sources
1. https://www.corningareaschools.com/o/cpphs
2. https://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/tobacco_control/current_policies.htm