It can be tricky enough at times overseeing a school district of nearly 1,000 students and seeing policy carried out on two different school campuses.

Exercising that authority beyond school grounds was something Coupeville School District Superintendent Jim Shank knew would be even trickier.

Essentially, that’s what a policy recommendation by the Washington State Schools Directors’ Association in Olympia was asking when it suggested school districts such as Coupeville not allow tobacco use within 500 feet of school property.

The Coupeville school board approved a policy that continued to prohibit tobacco use Monday night but didn’t include the language that called for the ban to extend beyond school property.

That would be impossible to enforce, Shank said, adding that there are private businesses and residences that fall within those parameters.

The Tyee Restaurant and Lounge, for instance, is located across the street from the high school/middle school and has an outdoor smoking area.

Island Transit also has bus stops located near both school campuses.

“What they recommended is nobody could smoke within 500 feet of the school and that’s just not going to happen,” Shank said.

“That puts us in a policing type of position for which we have no authority.

“Our jurisdiction is here. We can take care of things like that with children. Or if adults choose to smoke on campus, we can take care of that. Off campus, that’s just not our jurisdiction.”

The Coupeville School District typically follows policy recommendations from WSSDA, which provides expert support and guidance to assist school boards with policy questions and is charted to coordinate and facilitate school district policy, according to its website.

Shank said it will continue to rely on WSSDA for policy updates.

“They do good work even if there is a policy or two that has inconsistencies with our district’s circumstances,” Shank said.

The school board meeting was the first since classes began Sept. 6.

The school district’s first enrollment count showed 962 students, including 81 kindergarteners.

A high school social studies teacher, Erin Broten, was hired to replace Ryan Grenz and started last week.

Average class sizes also were revealed: 21.8 at the elementary school, 21.9 in the middle school and 20.2 at the high school.

The school district also noticed a slight increase in students from active duty military families, Shank said.