NEW ULM — While the use of traditional cigarettes by teens in Minnesota has plummeted, e-cigarette use amongst youth continues to rise in the state.

In some cases, some of the burden of educating students about the consequences of e-cigarette use has fallen on local schools.

In March, The Journal interviewed New Ulm High School Principal Mark Bergmann to learn what the high school is doing to combat teenage vaping and see if there are issues with students using e-cigarettes on school grounds.

Bergmann said between “three to five” students had been suspended or had received disciplinary action for the use of e-cigarettes or tobacco products on school grounds.

He said most of the students who had been caught or had received disciplinary action were reported by other students.

“Somewhere between a month or two months ago [January and February] there was a lot of conversation amongst the students [about vaping]. We had some reporting by students and we followed up on those reportings.”

Bergmann said student reporting and disciplinary action on students who had been caught vaping had slowed down after the school started taking an in-depth look into how to educate students about the consequences of using e-cigarettes.

He said health classes have changed the curriculum to help combat e-cigarette use, and the school has held educational settings with teachers to equip them with the knowledge of how to discuss the topic with students.

“We want our teachers engaging in that conversation with students,” Bergmann said. “So between health classes, and teachers engaging through day to day conversation with students, those are the things that turn things around.”

In March, Bergmann said, the high school sent health and physical education teacher Anita Longtin to Minnesota State University, Mankato, to attend a professional development seminar to look at what the school should be telling students about vaping. He said the administration is always conducting research on e-cigarette use and is looking at different ways they can educate students.

“When you look at this whole vaping situation, there’s limited information by anybody,” he said. “We’re still learning all of those things, and as we learn we can educate the students through what we’ve learned.”

Because information about long-term use of e-cigarettes and its health effects is scarce — and contradictory reports state it’s either safer or worse than regular cigarettes — school officials conduct constant research to stay informed on how they can educate students and combat underage use.

Asked what the most common areas of the school where students had been reported or caught are, Bergmann said the school parking lot and the bathrooms were the most prevalent.

“The way bathrooms are set up in the school now, there’s individual bathrooms where you can go in and lock the door behind you — what we refer to as ‘unisex’ bathrooms — and then there’s public bathrooms where all students can go into,” Bergmann said.

He said the high school has caught students vaping in the public bathrooms but hasn’t caught anyone in the unisex bathrooms. The secluded privacy of the unisex bathrooms allegedly allows students to easily use e-cigarettes without drawing attention.

“If a student reports it, we investigate it,” Bergmann said. “We don’t ever just use the student reporting as a means to suspend or discipline a student ever. We investigate at that point as an administration.”

He said the school’s objective isn’t to be a “watchdog” searching to get students in trouble. He said their goal is to address the issue and detour e-cigarette use in schools.

Consequences

However, he said, there are administrative and possibly legal consequences if there is evidence or proof that students had used an e-cigarette on school grounds.

School Resource Officer Brady Murphy said if school staff receive a report about a student vaping on school grounds, the student is usually pulled into the office and interviewed by Troy Guentzel, the assistant principal. He said school administrators give the student the opportunity to “come clean” with information and talk about the issue.

Murphy said if there is evidence of the student vaping on school grounds or evidence of e-cigarette related devices on the property, the school acts promptly.

“If it gets to the point where a locker needs to be searched — that takes place,” he said. “Same thing with the vehicle parked on school property. It’s subject to search by school administrators.”

If there’s proof of the student using e-cigarettes or they are found in their possession, Murphy said the school implements sanctions or disciplinary action. He said there are legal ramifications too if the student is under 18 years of age. He said if legal consequences are considered, a report is sent to the county attorney’s office, and the device is seized and destroyed.

“And then depending on how the county attorney wants to handle it, it could be more of a citation — a teen court issue which is a nice system that the county attorney’s office and the court set up for the juvenile first time offenders where it’s just a little less intimidating or a little less scary for them.”

Murphy said there had been an incident related to e-cigarettes at New Ulm Middle School as well. He said all the schools in the district have small “nooks and crannies” where students can hide e-cigarette use, and as the devices get smaller and easier to disguise, it is harder to find them.

Bergmann said his job as the principal is to ensure the safety of students and to meet what the community expects of its school system.

“100 percent, my job is to ensure the safety of our students based on what our community desires of our school. And that’s what we do in all cases.” Bergmann said. “I can’t imagine that our community would want kids vaping in school as a regular practice without us doing anything about it,” Bergmann said.

In January, a New Ulm High School student was charged with allegedly selling and distributing e-cigarette-related products to students in the community. In a Jan. 14 special meeting held by the school board, the student was expelled from the district under the charges and the violation of school policy.

In a Jan. 15 edition of The Journal, Superintendent Jeff Bertrang said the school can’t afford to “look the other way” on cases such as the expulsion. He said the school district must act on all violations of policies and the law.

“We never want to do that,” he said. “But sometimes they force your hand based on what they do. We have policies for a reason to keep things clean — keep things safe for everybody.”

One incident

On March 4, 2019, a letter to the editor was received by The Journal from New Ulm High School students Travis Hulke, Bradley Wilfahrt and Brady Alhness. All three students are a part of the high school’s journalism class and agreed with each other to submit the article.

Titled “JUULs in Schools? NUHS grapples with problems surrounding the vaping craze,” the letter was originally written for their journalism class and was then sent to The Journal.

The article details the “vaping craze” amongst youth in the United States and how the high school is combating student use of e-cigarettes.

The article also details an incident of a student at the high school who was removed as president of a prominent student and state organization after a Snapchat video of the student vaping outside of school grounds was sent to school administrators.

The Journal interviewed the student who has asked to remain anonymous for personal reasons.

The student told The Journal they are a member of a student organization that’s prominent in Minnesota and had been, until recently, the president of a local chapter of that organization.

However, they said they were removed from the position after a Snapchat video of them using an e-cigarette outside of school grounds was sent to school administrators.

The student said they had used the e-cigarette on their own property a week and a half before the start of the 2018-2019 school year. They said the e-cigarette they used did not contain nicotine in the e-juice; however, the student said they were not 18 years old at the time of use.

“I do believe I did do something wrong obviously with vaping or smoking before 18,” the student told The Journal. “But it was non-nicotine. The thing that’s most important for me is, I believe, is it was a week and a half before school started.”

The student said when using the e-cigarette, the student was spending time with a friend.

The student’s friend took a Snapchat video of them using the e-cigarette and sent it to various contacts. The video then made its way to the attention of school administrators.

The student said they are not aware of how the video made it to school officials, but on the second day of the 2018-2019 school year, the student was collected from class by assistant principal Troy Guentzel and brought to his office.

The student said Guentzel showed them the video of the vaping incident, gave the student a chemical use and abuse violation charge and then placed the student on a suspension from extracurricular activities.

The student was then notified by the student organization they belong to of their removal from their position as president. School officials told The Journal that they had no control or influence over the organization’s decision to remove the student from the position.

“Since it was non-nicotine they couldn’t test it to find out,” the student said. “I could have said a million times over it was non-nicotine, but they were like ‘can you test it?'”

The student said they shouldn’t have received disciplinary action from the school because of the lack of nicotine in the e-cigarette. The student said they could have received a blood test to prove nicotine wasn’t in the device.

Despite the lack of evidence that there was nicotine in the device the student used, 2018 Minnesota Statute 609.685 Sale of Tobacco to Children states: “whoever possesses, smokes, chews, or otherwise ingests, purchases, or attempts to purchase tobacco, tobacco-related devices, or electronic delivery devices and is under the age of 18 years is guilty of a petty misdemeanor.”

However, the student said they were never charged with a petty misdemeanor nor did they receive any other charges from law enforcement.

New Ulm Public Schools’ policy, 419 Tobacco-Free Environment, states that a violation of the policy occurs when any student in the district possesses or uses any type of tobacco-related product, device or e-cigarette in a public school or facility owned by the district.

The policy references 2018 Minnesota Statute 609.685 as a legal reference.

Per decision by school administrators, students can be placed on either a four-week suspension or four-event suspension.

“I wasn’t given four weeks,” the student said. “Four weeks would’ve been better for me because he gave me the four-event [suspension]. With the [organization], because I’m not in sports, the only events that counted were the ones I missed class time for. The actual length of this punishment didn’t get over until the beginning of December.”

The student said his suspension lasted from September to December because there were only three to four organization events that occurred outside of school during the timeframe. He said the four-event suspension extended his punishment.

The student said because of their removal from the position as president of the organization chapter, they lost two scholarships that they said would have helped with paying for college after they graduate from high school.

Despite the loss of the scholarships, the student said they have plans to attend a community college in Minnesota after they graduate. The student said they are also still a member of the organization they lost their position in, but without a leadership role.

Travis Hulke, one of the students who sent the letter to The Journal, quoted the fourth amendment in the article the students wrote, challenging the school’s policy on searches of vehicles by police on school property.

“I’m a believer in rights,” Hulke told The Journal. “The ultimate goal is the Constitution.”

He said he’s heard of students getting caught for vaping at the high school and that other students are aware of their use.

“Maybe one every week,” he said.

Gage Cureton can be emailed at gcureton@nujournal.com.