title: Evaluation of school tobacco-free policies in a rural Northern Plains state.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has called for tobacco-free school (TFS) policies. In South Dakota (SD), a rural state with a large American Indian population, collaboration between state agencies focused on development and dissemination of a model TFS policy in 2008. This study explored the current status of TFS policies in statewide SD school districts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tobacco policies were requested from all SD school district administrators. A 26-point checklist based on CDC TFS policy guidelines was used to evaluate policies. Follow-up interviews were conducted with selected superintendents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Policies were received from 144 of 217 districts (66% response). Participation was higher for public districts than tribal/Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) districts and nonpublic districts. The overall mean policy score was 11.6 (SD 5.1). Public school districts had the highest mean (12.3) followed by nonpublic (8.9) and tribal/BIE (7.5). In a subset of districts with a large American Indian population (>30%), policy scores were lower for those located on reservation or tribal lands compared with other locations. Barriers to policy development were identified as time and staff expertise.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a need to improve statewide TFS policies. A district report card with recommendations for improvement and a resource guide were developed and disseminated.
authors.affiliation: Dean and Professor (Nancy.Fahrenwald@sdstate.edu), South Dakota State University College of Nursing, Box 2275, Brookings, SD 57007.
authors.forename: Nancy L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Fahrenwald
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Kerkvliet
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carson
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lammers
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Melstad
authors.forename: Deetta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dugstad
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McCord
mesh_terms: D000288:Administrative Personnel; D002487:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003479:Curriculum; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016134:Organizational Policy; D012574:Schools / Q000592:standards*; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013023:South Dakota / Q000453:epidemiology; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
keywords: South Dakota; health policy; tobacco; tobacco-free school policy