DISTRICT EXPLORES WAYS TO PREVENT DRUG USE IN SCHOOLS

Recent survey shows 79% of students will have used drugs or alcohol by
their senior year.

OAK PARK -- At $3,000 each, drug-sniffing dogs may be out of the
question for Medea Creek Middle and Oak Park High schools.

At roughly $50,000 each, six new full-time counselors -- one for each
school in the Oak Park Unified School District -- may also be just
wishful thinking.

But no matter what the cost, the results of a recent survey of
students' drug and alcohol use have the district's Safe Kids Task
Force looking for any way possible to keep drugs and violence out of
the classroom.

Based on the results of the survey, the task force offered a list of
suggestions on how to curb drug use in schools, which included the
drug-sniffing dogs and counselors. However, issues such as cost and
students' rights make such recommendations unlikely, officials said.

The school board will review the results of the survey and the
recommendations from the task force at the district's meeting at 7
p.m. Tuesday. The board meets in the presentation room of Oak Park
High School, 889 N. Kanan Road.

The survey shows about 2% of the 11th-graders surveyed said they had
used cocaine. About 29% had used marijuana. And 79% had used alcohol.

Another 78% of 11th-graders said they thought it was easy to get
alcohol, 61% said the same about marijuana and 11% said that about
cocaine. About 15% of the 11th-graders said they had been either drunk
or high on school grounds.

"The numbers are pretty average for the nation," said task force
co-chair Millie Andress, who is also director of special projects for
the district and principal of Oak View High School. "They're not much
higher, maybe a little lower. But it's still surprising for a small
district like Oak Park. It's not like we're talking 13% of 14,000
kids. We're talking about 13% of 1,400 kids."

The survey was taken last spring, but it wasn't until now that a task
force for the district has made recommendations on what to do.

The key, Andress said, is not bringing dogs to schools to sniff
lockers and backpacks, but instead to institute preventive measures.
Some suggestions that would cost much less include hiring Action, a
nonprofit counseling service, to offer help to students, and
instituting character education and conflict resolution at each school.

After the Columbine High School shootings last spring, local districts
have focused more on prevention. The survey given last spring was the
first of what Andress said should be an annual event. Students
completed another survey in January.

"The recent scares, especially with Columbine and the other school
shootings, have kind of shaken Oak Park High School from its little
haven," said David Guo, 17, who is a student member of the board of
education and a senior at Oak Park High School.

While it's not likely that dogs will be coming to campus, Andress
said, the fact that it was suggested seemed a little drastic to David.

"It's good we want to keep the kids safe, and maybe I just like to see
Oak Park as the best place on Earth, but I don't see the need for
them," David said.

Board member Jim Kalember had a different view.

"We're not claiming to be immune from drugs," Kalember said. "We have
no control over what happens when students walk off campus."