CAUTIONARY APPROACH NEEDED

It would be difficult to find anybody who thought keeping kids away
from drugs isn't a worthwhile endeavor. But the problem is how to
achieve that goal.

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program is one way. Every day for
nine months, a full-time police officer is in the district teaching
informal classes or weekly lessons, conducting regular visits with
students, and attending assemblies. The program has many supporters,
including Canyon Independent School District Superintendent James
Veitenheimer.

"We have a lot of anecdotal evidence that DARE has been successful
for us," said Veitenheimer, who has been with CISD for two years. "No
program is going to be 100 percent effective and be able to eradicate
the problem of students who have a propensity to experiment with
drugs and alcohol. But for the rest of the lot, the program is
effective."

Others believe DARE might not be the answer.

Because of the property-tax rollback election in Randall County, the
program was cut from the budget. In mid-March, the CISD schools
outside Canyon will be without the full-time police officer.

County Judge Ted Wood said it was a matter of priorities. While DARE
is important, it is a preventative program. "Unfortunately, when push
comes to shove, some of the preventative programs are on the low end
of the priority list."

Eliminating DARE from the county might not be such a bad thing.

There are seven elementary schools in CISD, including three within
the city limits of Canyon. While DARE was cut from the county budget,
the Canyon Police Department still provides a DARE officer to those
three elementary schools plus Canyon Junior High School.

Not that the district didn't evaluate the program on an annual basis,
but the cutback will give administrators more evidence that the
program is working or needs help. The district can compare the
elementary schools that will retain a DARE officer - Oscar Hinger
Intermediate, Rex Reeves Primary, Crestview Elementary and Canyon
Junior High - and those that won't - Lakeview, Sundown Lane, Arden
Road and Gene Howe elementaries and Westover Park Intermediate.

Cutting DARE from the budget will also give the county a chance to
re-evaluate it.

"I think that one of the silver linings in the rollback, if you
will," Wood said, "is it does give county government and county
citizens an opportunity to see what really is important to us. To see
if we need to keep funding them or are we just funding programs
because they're there.

"I think it is good to pause and look at something like DARE and see
if it is beneficial and is working. There has been criticism leveled
at DARE that it is not working."

While Veitenheimer and DARE supporters would disagree, the judge
makes a good point. If the county sees that DARE works better than
previously thought, the next county administration can resume funding
it. A cautionary approach to DARE might be the best approach.