Smoking Ban on Conejo, Simi Grounds Begins Today : Schools: State and federal laws require such policies for districts to get funds for programs that teach students about the dangers of tobacco use.

Robert Klingenberger sees himself as a courteous smoker.

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A 37-year-old auto mechanic for the Thousand Oaks school district, Klingenberger always steps outside the district’s spacious Kelly Road maintenance shed to light up a cigarette, not wanting to bother his nonsmoking co-workers.

“We respect each other,” he said of the 20-person staff. “Everyone just kind of governs themselves.”

But starting today, the district will govern the smoking habits of Klingenberger and his colleagues when a new policy prohibiting smoking on school property goes into effect.

State and federal laws require that school districts adopt policies prohibiting smoking by July 1 to receive funding for programs that teach students about the dangers of tobacco use.

The Conejo Valley Unified School District receives about $57,000 in funding annually for tobacco-use prevention programs, officials said. To maintain that funding, trustees approved a smoking ban in February.

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Under the new policy, employees and visitors are prohibited from smoking on all property owned by the district, officials said. The policy applies to athletic stadiums and district-owned vehicles, as well as the 27 campuses in the Thousand Oaks district.

An identical policy goes into effect today in the Simi Valley Unified School District.

About 160 signs announcing the policy change will be prominently displayed at Conejo Valley Unified school sites this week, officials said.

Enforcement will begin with warnings. Visitors will be asked to put out tobacco products if they are caught smoking, while employees will receive warnings--first verbal, then written, if they fail to comply with the policy. Repeat offenders will have letters of reprimand placed in their personnel files at the district office.

But officials said they do not anticipate any problems enforcing the policy among the district’s more than 1,000 employees.

“I think it will be accepted OK,” said James Silberberger, the district’s director of classified personnel. “I think people understand it is something we haven’t done on our own--it is mandated.”

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For the past 12 years, smoking on school property has been limited to designated areas. But under the new policy, those areas will be eliminated.

“To a large part, the district is pretty much smoke-free already,” maintenance director Tony Lindsey said. “This is just making sure the message is clear.”

Reaction to the smoking ban has been mixed among school employees. Some greeted the policy with cheers, delighted that the smell of cigarette smoke would no longer linger in lunchrooms.

“We are so happy,” said clerk Mary Webb, who keeps four “No Smoking” signs on her desk. “Who wants to be around smoke? Not me.”

But others questioned the need for a tobacco ban when many employees already limit their smoking to areas removed from people who do not smoke.

“I think it is ridiculous,” maintenance worker Robert Giorgianni said. “I can see not smoking in front of the kids, (but) I think they ought to have a designated smoking area.”

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A district employee for 23 years, auto mechanic and nonsmoker Al Garcia said a ban is unnecessary since he already has an agreement with co-worker Klingenberger.

“He’s pretty good about not smoking around me,” Garcia said. “We’re like the odd couple--he smokes, I don’t, but we worked out a plan.”

With smoking banned on district property, many employees said they will simply walk beyond the policy zone, to the street or sidewalk, to savor a cigarette.

“We made a joke that there are going to be 15 guys at the mailbox,” Klingenberger said, “because it’s on the curb.”