NEW SCHOOL OFFERS DRUG TREATMENT

Burbank Academy will be an alternative school for students with
substance abuse problems.

Tulsa Public Schools is preparing to open a new alternative school
for students with substance abuse problems.

Burbank Academy is to be housed in the Bell Annex facility behind
Bell Elementary School, 6304 E. Admiral Blvd., and will accommodate
up to 60 students beginning in August.

Superintendent Michael Zolkoski is to give a presentation about the
program to the Tulsa school board at a special meeting at 5:30 p.m.
Monday.

As the World reported on Saturday, board members also will go into a
closed-door executive session to discuss Zolkoski's job performance
and continuing employment with TPS.

The need for a separate alternative school for students who abuse
drugs or alcohol became apparent during the fallout over troubles at
the Tulsa Academic Center, said Richard Palazzo, director of TPS
alternative programs.

"There was such a noted difference between the attitude and behaviors
of the kids that were (referred) there for drug and alcohol charges
and kids that were (referred) there for major violence charges,"
Palazzo said of the Tulsa Academic Center.

Palazzo said the design of the new program for Burbank Academy was
based on a report developed by a substance abuse task force made up of
TPS administrators and local mental health care professionals, which
met five times between April and June.

Burbank Academy would give students found to have a "medium severity"
substance abuse problem an opportunity to complete academic credits
in core subjects while undergoing individual, group and family therapy.

CREOKS Behavioral Health Services and Palmer Continuum of Care Inc.
will provide counseling services at the new school.

Enrollment at Burbank will be strictly voluntary. The program will
primarily serve high school students, because they have the highest
incidence of substance abuse infractions, but some middle school
students could be served, Palazzo said.

At a special school board retreat in mid-June, Zolkoski thanked the
mental health care professionals who had served on the task force,
singling out Michael Brose, executive director of the Mental Health
Association in Tulsa.

Contacted about the Burbank Academy last week, Brose said the school
district should be commended for its work to address substance abuse
in the school community program, but he is concerned the program is
"in danger of being implemented too fast with too many students in
its early stages."

"Each step of the program as outlined should be implemented with
small numbers coupled with evaluation and oversight to measure
effectiveness, allowing the program to be modified," Brose said. "In
light of the recent lessons of the Tulsa Academic Center, the
gradual implementation coupled with real-time evaluation of
effectiveness is critical."

Palazzo said TPS would form an advisory council of district
administrators and the professionals who served on the task force for
Burbank Academy.

"We know we are going to have to tweak this thing," he
said.

The task force report recommended new "outcomes" or consequences for
students who commit non-violent, substance abuse violations of TPS
rules:

The student would agree to undergo a substance abuse assessment and
enter a treatment plan, which could include random drug testing,
substance abuse education, individual and family counseling.

The student would refuse the substance abuse assessment and treatment
plan and would receive an out-of-school suspension or other discipline.

The student who is found distributing a controlled substance or whose
other substance abuse violation involved violence could be sent to
the Tulsa Academic Center.

Students who are found through the substance abuse assessment to have
a "low severity" problem would complete their treatment plan at their
home school, and those who are found to have a "high severity"
problem would be referred for intensive outpatient services or
residential treatment.

Brose said he is also concerned that the substance abuse task force
report didn't put an emphasis on new efforts to prevent substance
abuse among Tulsa students.

The curriculum at all schools should be about preventing substance
abuse before it happens, "reducing the need for more intensive and
costly interventions later," he said.