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Twenty-one Colorado school districts, seven charter schools, one cooperative education services board, and one youth residential treatment center have been awarded $11.4 million in funding over the next three years for vaping education and prevention programs.
The money comes from a $31.7 million settlement between the state of Colorado and e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs Inc. Colorado sued Juul in 2020, alleging that it targeted youth with deceptive marketing and played down the health risks of vaping. In settling the lawsuit, Juul did not admit any wrongdoing.
Colorado is poised to spend the bulk of the settlement money on a $20 million grant program aimed at improving children’s mental health. But the state is also giving smaller grants directly to school districts, nonprofit organizations, and government entities.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced the recipients of the smaller grants in a press release Tuesday.
The school district and school recipients are:
- Alamosa School District: $244,968
- Atlas Preparatory School in Colorado Springs: $85,000
- Aurora Public Schools: $140,267
- AXL Academy in Aurora: $238,000
- Bennett School District: $218,547
- Center School District: $198,098
- Chavez-Huerta Preparatory Academy in Pueblo: $46,940
- Colorado Military Academy in Colorado Springs: $117,471
- Dolores County School District: $45,681
- Downtown Denver Expeditionary School in Denver: $78,000
- DSST Public Schools in Denver and Aurora: $114,000
- Eagle County School District: $213,353
- Elizabeth School District: $130,217
- Fountain-Fort Carson School District: $131,009
- Gunnison Watershed School District: $74,534
- Harrison School District: $253,405
- Lake County School District: $87,543
- Mancos School District: $54,300
- Mapleton Public Schools: $36,681
- Montrose County School District: $100,000
- New Legacy Charter School in Aurora: $71,624
- North Park School District: $187,545
- Pueblo County School District 70: $127,657
- San Luis Valley BOCES: $273,870
- School District 49: $126,961
- Sierra Grande School District: $100,985
- Southern Peaks Regional Treatment Center in Cañon City: $36,181
- Steamboat Springs School District: $125,635
- Strasburg School District: $91,500
- Summit School District: $50,000
Twelve nonprofit organizations and government entities were awarded a total of $6 million.
Those recipients are:
- 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Juvenile Diversion Lighthouse Program: $224,010 for a vaping education program for youth in Mesa County, with a focus on rural communities
- Boys & Girls Clubs in Colorado, Inc.: $855,979 for community engagement and youth substance use prevention and peer-led programs at 50 clubs across Colorado
- Broomfield Public Health and Environment: $202,184 for nicotine replacement therapy and peer support programs to help young people quit vaping, with a focus on LGBTQ+ youth
- Denver Department of Public Health and Environment: $541,158 for nicotine replacement therapy, community engagement, and trauma-informed counseling for youth
- Mountain Youth: $500,000 for vaping prevention education, media campaigns, cessation programs, and youth-led initiatives in the Eagle River Valley
- Jefferson County Public Health: $400,000 for vaping education and cessation services for youth
- Partners of Delta, Montrose & Ouray: $297,161 for mentors who will support middle and high school students with behavioral issues through school-based programs
- Partners for Youth: $335,487 for an initiative to connect youth in Routt County with trusted adults and engage them in positive activities to prevent substance use
- Rocky Mountain Center for Health, Promotion and Education: $800,000 for a program that will train adults to build strong connections with youth in school, family, and community settings
- Servicios de La Raza: $950,000 to deploy a bilingual vaping-cessation program for Latino youth
- University of Colorado/Colorado School of Public Health UpRISE: $544,018 to expand a youth-led social justice movement for tobacco control
- Youth Healthcare Alliance: $350,000 for a program in which school-based health centers will participate in an alternative-to-discipline initiative for youth who are caught vaping
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Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. She covers Denver Public Schools.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools and the effort to improve schools for all children.
