photo by: Richard Gwin

Signs warning against the sale of tobacco to minors are displayed in the window of a Lawrence store, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016.

When the Lawrence school board meets Monday, its members will be asked to lend their support to a local initiative aimed at raising the tobacco sales age from 18 to 21 in Lawrence.

Spearheaded locally by the community health coalition LiveWell Lawrence, Tobacco 21 is a nationwide movement that encourages policymakers to increase the legal age at which individuals can purchase tobacco and nicotine products. So far, according to a report by LiveWell Lawrence, 160 cities in 12 states have adopted ordinances to raise that age to 21.

Chris Tilden, the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department’s community health director, said an endorsement from the Lawrence school board would mark a logical step in the right direction for the local Tobacco 21 efforts.

If the school board votes to endorse the initiative, which would likely take place at the next meeting after Monday’s, it would join the ranks of several local agencies, including Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Health Care Access, Just Food and the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center.

“We know, as with any policy debate in our community, that we want to create as many allies as possible behind ideas that we believe can increase and improve the health of the public,” Tilden said. “When we’re talking about youth, the school district is a key player.”

Although only a small fraction of the Lawrence public school students are of legal smoking age, Tilden said, studies suggest that many underage smokers receive tobacco products from friends who might be slightly older — 18- or 19-year-olds, for example, who may be legally old enough to buy these products but young enough to still travel in the same social circles.

Nearly 9 out of 10 smokers report trying their first cigarette by age 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“If you make it to 21, you’re unlikely to start,” Tilden said of smoking. “What we’re trying to do is make it unlikely that they’ll start before they’re 21, in which case it’s unlikely that they’ll start in their lifetime.”

School board president Marcel Harmon, who said he has already voiced his support for Tobacco 21 on a personal level, expects his peers to back the initiative come Monday night. He said district administration has already drafted a resolution for the board to review, though a final vote likely won’t take place at this week’s meeting.

“In a general sense, I think — and we’ll find out Monday — we support any type of initiative that…looks at trying to limit tobacco usage among young people to help mitigate or minimize the amount of people that get addicted to nicotine as they get older,” Harmon said.

In other business, the school board will hear an update from Jerri Kemble, assistant superintendent of innovation and technology, on the rollout of mobile devices in Lawrence middle schools.

The school board will also vote to approve the real estate contract between Douglas County and the school district. The contract, if approved, would see the exchange of a former Douglas County Public Works site at 711 E. 23rd St., plus $500,000 from the school district to the county, for the district’s facilities and operations property at 146 Maine St.

Monday’s school board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the district offices, 110 McDonald Drive. The regular meeting will be preceded by the school board’s goal-setting work session, slated for 5 to 6:45 p.m.