Tobacco Use Prevention Grant Application Opens February 22, 2024
Grant Information:
The Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program provides funds to the OPI to provide grants to Montana schools for implementing strategies to reduce youth tobacco use. Grant recipients will be awarded up to $10,000 per school or up to $20,000 per school district to support student tobacco use prevention strategies. While the grant does state a district can apply for up to $20,000, the purpose of establishing this threshold is to accommodate larger districts that have more than one school to address with grant funding.
Click HERE for more information and a list of a few strategies to reduce youth tobacco use in your schools. You may have even better ideas for your school! A link to the application will go live on February 22, but here's a preview of the application for planning purposes. Successful applicants must be able to affirm that out-of-school suspension will not be utilized for a student's first tobacco-related violation.
About Vape Detectors: Purchasing Vape Detectors was allowed in previous grant cycles, with the desired goal being to prevent/reduce student vaping in schools. Until we have a better understanding of the efficacy of these sensors, we're eliminating vape detectors as an allowable grant expense this year. In the meantime, we're working to gather data from schools currently utilizing them.
If your district has installed vape detectors, we are very interested to hear about your experiences with them. Please respond to these questions.
The grant application period will close on March 22, 2024. For more information, contact Kris Minard at kminard@mt.gov or 406.444.0785.
Schedule Vaping Prevention Presentations for Your School
Dr. Beth Dominicis and Kris Minard have been busy traveling to schools across Montana to help educate students about the risks of vaping and other commercial tobacco use. Nicotine use, whether from vapes or pouches is having an impact on our kids and their education. Now that the OPI has two instructional coordinators in tobacco use prevention, we can offer our free services to more schools. This year we've been to Hays Lodge Pole, Plains, Savage, Wibaux, Jordan, Dillon, Boulder, Columbia Falls, Harlowton, Ryegate, Laurel, Whitehall, Power, Harlem, Chinook, Havre, Missoula, Billings, Joliet, Pryor, Stanford and Bozeman, with several more schools scheduled in the next 3 months. If you'd like to add your school to our list, please fill out this inquiry.
We have 3 age-appropriate presentations designed for grades 4-5, 6-8 and 9-12. The sessions take approximately 40 minutes and are most engaging in classroom-style settings, but assemblies can be provided as well.
We can also provide staff presentations that offer one OPI renewal unit per hour.
For more information, fill out the inquiry or contact Beth Dominicis at beth.dominicis@mt.gov or Kris Minard at kminard@mt.gov.
The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.
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