POLICE CHIEF: D.A.R.E. IS DONE FOR

Parents Gripe, But Money And Manpower Is Lacking

The popular D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program has
been eliminated from the Bayonne school district for the upcoming
school year, Bayonne Police Chief Robert Kubert said yesterday.

Elimination of the entire Cops in Schools program is a result of
budget cuts and a shortage of police manpower, and was made after
weeks of meetings between various city officials.

"I told everyone from the city that with the current budgetary
constraints and the hiring freeze at City Hall, the program was the
first nonessential program that had to go," Kubert said.

Last month, Kubert said the force is now 42 below its maximum strength
of 250 as permitted by city ordinance.

Parents are upset and there is a movement to have the program
reinstated, even if it's a scaled-back version.

Bayonne resident Gerri Necklan, who has three kids, expressed
frustration over the program's demise.

"It bothers me a lot," Necklan said. "We've had this program since
1991, and the kids are going to miss the relationships with the
police. It really is something that should stay in the schools."

Nick Demauro, chairman and CEO of D.A.R.E. NJ, says that he's heard
from 10 Bayonne parents, all of whom expressed anger over the
program's elimination.

"Bayonne has been one of the most successful DARE programs in the
state," Demauro said. "It has touched a lot of kids and parents in the
community. We are upset about this."

Demauro said the state organization is pursuing funding to allow
Bayonne to reinstate the program.

Board of Education President Will Lawson said he's not happy about
losing the program, but knew it was possible.

"It's definitely something we'd like to keep, but really, there isn't
much we could do," he said. "It's a police decision, not a board of ed
issue."

City Councilman Anthony Chiappone says he is working on a "scaled-down
version" of the D.A.R.E. program, although Kubert believes that such
ideas "don't make much sense because of the intensive nature of the
curriculum."

Currently, a City Council resolution calls for the allocation of
$63,526 to the Board of Education for "alcohol and drug abuse
programs" that would start Jan. 1. A vote on the resolution is
expected at the Aug. 20 meeting.