DRUG EDUCATION SUSPENDED AFTER TEACHER WEARS OFFICER'S LOADED PISTOL IN
CLASSROOM

JOHNSTOWN - The Johnstown School District has suspended its DARE program
indefinitely and a teacher for two days after she wore the DARE officer's
loaded holstered gun around Warren Street Elementary School.

The Jan. 14 incident elicited statements Monday from Johnstown city
officials and Board of Education President Edith Grahn. City officials
contend that while Officer Jeffrey Dunn, instructor of the Drug Awareness
Resistance Education program, and second-grade teacher Jan Wenskoski acted
unwisely, the school board overreacted in deciding to halt the DARE program.

A prepared statement read by Johnstown Councilwoman Kay Cole, chairwoman of
the personnel committee, questioned and lamented the school board position.

"The Johnstown Police Department is being forced to end its involvement
with the DARE program . . . for the remainder of theschool year," Cole said.

Cole said the school board is upset that Dunn "briefly allowed a teacher to
wear his holster and gun even though the gun was always safely secured in
the holster." While poor judgment was evident, Cole said, attempts to
"reach a compromise" with the school board failed. She said school
officials insist Dunn be removed as DARE officer.

Grahn said the DARE program will remain on hiatus while the board
investigates the matter and explores its options. "We do want him out of
the classroom for now," Grahn said of Dunn. She said the board will
probably discuss the issue Feb. 4.She said school officials are exploring
the possibility of using another police agency to teach the DARE program.
It was the board's position in an executive session conducted last week,
she said, that Dunn exercised "very poor judgment" in allowing the teacher
to wear his gunbelt.

A number of parents of elementary school children have notified the
district, Grahn said, that if Dunn returns to Johnstown classroom they will
not enroll their children in the DARE program.

One school official who asked not to be identified said that while allowing
the teacher to wear the gunbelt was a mistake, the children enjoyed the
spectacle of their teacher - who was also wearing Dunn's uniform jacket -
dressed as a police officer.

In the statement issued by Cole, she quoted Dunn as saying, "I feel that I
can make up for this mistake with a renewed commitment to helping the youth
of this community in other ways."

Cole issued the statement after an hour-long council executive session
attended by Dunn and Police Chief James Cook. "Hopefully we can turn this
unfortunate incident into something positive for the kids of Johnstown,"
said Cole, who emphasized the Police Department is evaluating alternative
methods of helping city children including sponsoring dances and other
recreational activities.

"We are going to continue to reach out to the kids," Chief James Cook said
in the statement.

Police officials said Dunn will probably receive a letter of reprimand.
Cook said there is no departmental policy regarding relinquishing control
of an officer's gun.

Police officials acknowledge the gun, a Glock .40-caliber semiautomatic
pistol, was loaded, but said the holsters are designed to make it difficult
for an untrained person to remove the weapon.Cook said Dunn, a former
deputy in the Fulton County Sheriff's Department, has been on the Johnstown
force for more than two years and DARE officer since spring.

Johnstown Central Council PTA officers reached Monday declined comment. One
PTA official, who spoke on the condition she not be identified, said the
incident constituted a serious lapse in judgment by both the officer and
the teacher. She said parents are upset.

Wenskoski could not be reached for comment. School Superintendent Joel
Pollak declined comment.