KEEPING KIDS DRUG FREE WITH DARE

DARE Program Kept Alive By Lobbying Officer

TRACY - Steve Abercrombie works a fifth-grade classroom like Phil Donahue
did a television studio. Up one row of chairs and down another.

Abercrombie is known as Officer "Abs" and is responsible for teaching the
Drug Abuse Resistance Education program to Tracy-area schoolchildren.
On Thursday, he gave the first lessons of smoking, drug, alcohol and gang
abstinence to students at North Elementary School.

A retired Hayward police officer, Abercrombie weaved among 22 students as
any comfortable classroom teacher would do. He asked questions, used
placards to call on kids by name and used appropriate humor to engage
the students during an hourlong presentation. It was the first of 10
weekly sessions he'll use to teach 10- and 11-year-olds basic defenses
against various addictions.

The fifth-graders shot their arms into the air when responding to
Abercrombie's questions. When one student made a particularly astute
observation, Abercrombie quickly maneuvered in for a knuckle knock.

"I'm glad I learned a lot of things," said Ariana Gonzalez, 10.

The same enthusiasm Abercrombie illustrates to the students helped
maintain DARE in Tracy schools in 2005 following a year of financial
uncertainty.

Abercrombie lobbied City Council members and other community leaders to
provide needed funds for the program, which they did. In July, council
members unanimously reauthorized spending $60,000 during the school year,
with an option for up to two more years, to keep the program running.

"It's good to know we'll be able to stick around," Abercrombie said. "It's
a positive, supportive sign that means we're investing in the city's future."

The city's budget is about $3,500 more than 2005. Sixty percent is spent
on student materials, and the remaining 40 percent pays Abercrombie and
other off-duty officers for teaching the classes. Out-of-jurisdiction DARE
officers are paid a small stipend, but not the benefits an officer
usually receives when he or she is a member of the local force. The
contracted rate allows the program to be taught to 1,700 students
throughout the school year at a substantially reduced cost.

Local Kiwanis and Rotary members are committed to raising the rest of the
program's budget, said Abercrombie, who also teaches DARE at Mountain
House, Jefferson, Banta and Lammersville schools.

"DARE continues to be an important program," Tracy Police Chief David
Krauss told council members prior to their vote.

From 1994 to the 2004-05 school year, the Tracy Unified School District
and the Tracy Police Department split the $120,000 cost in salary and
benefits of a full-time Tracy officer to teach the program. But the
district faced a multimillion-dollar budget deficit that year and decided
it could no longer afford its half of the cost. Krauss said the Police
Department couldn't afford more than its share and returned the officer to
patrol duties.

Abercrombie received a pledge from local Kiwanis members to raise the
needed funds, but they were unable to sustain the entire costs for more
than one year. There was concern the program would not be taught
any longer, but when the council assumed Tracy's share of costs, DARE was
able to continue.

Fifth-grade teacher Andrew Johnson said that's important, because a
majority of his students already have been exposed to the issues of drugs
and gangs.

"This way, they get to see the other side of it," Johnson said. "They get
to see that police aren't just being mean, they're enforcing the laws for
a reason."