E-cigarette and vape use among Wisconsin high schoolers has been declining since its peak in 2018, but is still a serious problem as 1 in 10 students report nicotine addiction.
While vapes have been reported as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes, studies have shown nicotine can be harmful to brain development in young people, cause increased levels of stress, become habit forming and cost students lots of money over time.
The long-term negative health impacts of vaping are not well-known like they are in tobacco, however, juices and cartridges used in e-cigarettes and vapes contain a variety of known toxic chemicals.
If you or someone you know is concerned about addiction to nicotine-containing products, contact the school nurse for a judgment-free consultation on resources to start quitting. For free, confidential resources on quitting visit https://quitline.wisc.edu/ or text “READY” to 34191. Parents who choose to use vapes should remember to secure juices and pods to make sure younger children do not accidentally ingest toxic substances. If you think a child may have been exposed to vaping supplies, call the Poison Control Hotline immediately at 800-222-1222.
Students will be using their bus pass to ride the bus again this year. This also applies to students who normally don't ride a bus, as we use these for field trips too. The pass is scanned and allows the system to track who is on the bus.
Throughout the year, we have been experiencing some difficulty with getting every student to scan their bus ID when they load/unload the bus. Unless we get every student to scan, we will not have accurate ridership information. This information is essential in the event of an accident, to maximize efficiency/capacity, for reporting purposes, and for other safety reasons (e.g. knowing which stop a student gets off the bus at, knowing if any riders have scanned on but not off - ex. child fell asleep on the bus, etc.).
As a reminder, the school district has already implemented a "No Scan/No Ride" policy for the school bus. This means that if a student does not scan their student ID, they will not be allowed to ride the bus. Please note that if a student informs the driver that they lost their ID, the student will be allowed to ride the bus that day. However, they must inform the school office that morning (or the following morning if the lost ID is discovered when boarding in the afternoon) and receive a replacement ID, to continue to ride the bus. Replacement IDs should be issued to the student the same day as reported to the office. In addition, a student who forgets their ID on a particular day (provided that they do not do so consistently), will be allowed to ride that particular day. Please help us ensure that students have their IDs on them everyday.
The Here Comes the Bus App is a free app that enables the user to see the location of your child’s school bus on a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer. The app allows families to see real-time updates of where a bus is along its route, to create a custom notification for when the bus reaches a certain point in its route and to receive notifications if there has been a schedule change. If you wish to sign up for scanning notifications of when your child scanned on and off the bus, the district code is 29776. The app is available from the App Store or Google Play. Download instructions and additional information can be found at www.herecomesthebus.com.
