CENTENNIAL CUTS D.A.R.E. FOR MUSIC, SUMMER SCHOOL

D.A.R.E. did not make the cut this year in the Centennial School District.

But supporters of Drug Abuse Resistance Education promise to find some way
to bring back a program they say has taught thousands of Centennial
fifth-graders to say no to drugs and violence over the last eight years.

Superintendent Keith Robinson said the Centennial administration decided to
eliminate D.A.R.E. because the program's long-term funding prospects are
poor and other needs in next year's budget are more pressing.

Among the needs that Robinson listed are the restoration of a full-time
music teacher in each elementary school and the start of a summer school
program to help students meet state standards.

Robinson said that time devoted to D. A. R. E. bumps up against the need to
devote classroom time to bring students up to new academic standards.

The school board adopted the $37.3 million general fund budget Wednesday
night for 1999-2000. D.A.R.E.'s backers did get a commitment to set up a
task force that would explore what other funds might be tapped to pay for
its return to Centennial.