SHERIFF'S BUDGET CUTS THREATEN DARE PROGRAM

Parents not happy; cops stretched thin

St. Tammany bureau Becky Guidry credits the Drug Abuse Resistance Education
program with helping her three oldest children decide to stay away from
using harmful drugs and alcohol.

The Folsom Elementary School parent expected her son, a fifth-grader who was
set to participate in the DARE program this year, to have the same positive
reaction to the course as his siblings. But St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack
Strain's budget cuts have thrown the program's fate into question for
Guidry's son and other students attending schools outside the parish's three
largest municipalities.

As part of his effort to cut $1.5 million from his budget, Strain announced
this week the elimination of a series of public service programs, including
DARE. Two full-time and two part-time deputies who taught DARE courses at
elementary and middle schools in unincorporated parts of the parish have
been reassigned to other duties.

A multitude of schools, including Bayou Lacombe Junior High, Madisonville
Junior High, Sixth Ward Junior High, Lee Road Junior High, Pearl River
Junior High and Clearwood Junior High, would be without instructors from the
Sheriff's Office to teach the 17-week DARE program.

Guidry said parents at Folsom Elementary will be upset if their children
don't receive the same drug classes available to students in other parts of
parish. The Mandeville, Covington and Slidell police departments offer their
own DARE education programs at schools primarily within their city
boundaries.

"Our kids would really be missing out," Guidry said. "It was a program that
was working. The kids went through it and knew not to do drugs. It helps
them make the right choices. If we don't educate, we can't blame them for
doing drugs down the road."

St. Tammany school Superintendent Gayle Sloan said the School Board's first
concern was hammering out a compromise with Strain to ensure his cutbacks
would not include the 22 crossing guards stationed in front of schools.
Officials will look at possible ways to address the DARE shortfall in the
coming weeks, she said.

Officers at the Mandeville, Covington and Slidell police departments said
they have not been contacted about teaching DARE courses at any additional
schools outside of their city limits. Even if they were to receive a call
from the School Board asking them to pick up some of the slack, the officers
said they would be hard-pressed to find the time or money to assist other
schools. "We wish we could help, but we just don't have the resources," said
Lt. Rob Callahan of the Slidell Police Department, which appropriated money
to switch its DARE officer from part time to full time a few months ago. The
Mandeville Police Department has four full-time trained DARE officers, but
already is busy running the program at several schools outside of its
boundaries, Police Chief Tom Buell said. The Covington Police Department
also is "maxed out," covering seven schools in the city, Lt. Jack West said.
Some recent studies have questioned whether the DARE program, which was
developed in 1983 and now is taught in more than 80 percent of school
districts nationwide, has had any effect in limiting drug use. According to
its Web site, DARE officials are testing a new curriculum for middle- and
high-schoolers in response to reports that claim there is no significant
difference in drug use between students who participated in DARE classes and
those who did not.

Integrated plan Critics of the program say the anti-drug lessons learned by
fifth-graders won't last when the student reaches adolescence and wants to
experiment with illegal drugs. But School Board member Diane Sambola said
DARE has many immeasurable merits.

"Our kids hear the correct information from a person who is trained to teach
it to them," said Sambola, who represents schools in the Folsom area, which
will see their DARE programs cut. "I can tell them to stay away from drugs,
but I'm not a trained officer. I think this is one of those situations that
if someone doesn't pay for it now, it will cost us a lot more later."
Sambola said she hopes the School Board can petition the state Department of
Education to pay for some DARE courses at the affected schools. Teachers and
staff members at several schools already are looking into incorporating
anti-drug lessons into their teaching plans as a substitute for the DARE
courses taught by the sheriff's deputies. At Lee Road Junior High, guidance
counselor Melinda Breaux said she will organize Red Ribbon Week activities.

"There's no way I can get in there and get to these kids the same way the
DARE officers did, because we are spread so incredibly thin," Breaux said.
"We will do what we can, but test scores are important and grades are
important. Teachers will have trouble taking time away from everything else
they are accountable for to teach drug education."