PORTSMOUTH TO CUT DARE, DESPITE OFFER OF FUNDING

PORTSMOUTH -- A last-ditch effort by the sheriff to fund a national
drug-prevention program won't be enough to keep the course in the city's
classrooms.

In March, school officials said they couldn't afford the $80,000 annual
expense of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, commonly known as
DARE. To help make up for a $2 million shortfall, officials said the
schools could not pay the salaries of the law-enforcement officers who
teach the classes.

But recently, the school division rejected an offer from Sheriff Gary W.
Waters to fully fund the program. Superintendent David C. Stuckwisch said
the cost to the schools -- 14 precious classroom hours -- is too high a price.

In Portsmouth, DARE is taught in fifth grade -- the same year Virginia's
students take Standards of Learning exams. Portsmouth's scores lag
well-behind other South Hampton Roads divisions, and Stuckwisch said every
hour needs to be focused on the skills for the SOLs test.

Waters called that reasoning a "cop-out."

"If they can't find 14 hours in a school year, something's the matter
someplace," Waters said.

The sheriff brought DARE to the city in 1987 and since then more than
30,000 students have graduated from the program. Recently Waters proposed
placing four law-enforcement officials, including three from the jail, in
classrooms at his department's and the police department's expense.

Originally started in 1983 during the "Just Say No" era, DARE was taught in
more than half of the nation's school districts and in 55 countries at one
time.

But in recent years, some experts have criticized DARE's long-term success,
claiming graduates use drugs at the same or higher rates than
non-participants. Some districts abandoned the program, and, nationally,
DARE was revamped.

Chesapeake cut DARE in its schools two years ago. Norfolk, Suffolk and
Virginia Beach still use the curriculum.

Stuckwisch said he asked the division's principals whether they wanted to
continue DARE, and none accepted the offer.

In its place, the superintendent said, the schools' health and physical
education classes would incorporate many of the same elements as DARE,
discouraging kids to use drugs and improving self-esteem.

But Waters still believes DARE should be a priority.

While he acknowledges DARE is not a "cure-all" and could be improved if it
had more follow-through, he said the program has a place in schools.

"The SOLs are not going to dictate a kid's future," he said. "If a kid's
done real well on the SOL, that doesn't mean he won't be a drug user. . . .
If we save one kid, I think it's worth it."