SCHOOL DISTRICT ADDING DRUG COUNSELORS

Five years ago, a student found drunk at school or caught smoking
marijuana in the bathroom was arrested -- period.

There were no second chances. Students were taken to jail.

Since then, several high schools have replaced the zero-tolerance
policy with substance abuse counseling for first-time offenders at
school.

Currently, counselors are working at Palm Beach Gardens, Seminole
Ridge, William T. Dwyer, Pahokee, Forest Hill and Jupiter high schools.

Next year, at least two of the feeder middle schools will get
counselors, and eventually the number of substance abuse counselors
will increase to 24.

The program is funded through a state grant and administered by the
West Palm Beach-based Drug Abuse Treatment Association, which offers
outpatient treatment to adolescents and adults.

While any student can ask to see a counselor, teachers and
administrators refer many students. At team-based meetings, teachers
from different subjects discuss at-risk students and those with
behavioral problems. If they think students have a problem with
substance abuse or show signs of depression or stress, they'll send
them to counselors.

Although the program is voluntary for first-timers, repeat offenders
must go through counseling. If a student has broken the substance
abuse policies three times or if administrators find a large quantity
of illegal drugs on a student, they will call the police.

At Dwyer, in an out-of-the-way classroom-turned-office, counselor Kyle
Salow meets with students anytime they need to talk.

"If someone is having a bad day, they don't have to wait two days to
schedule an appointment," Salow said. "Some of these students couldn't
afford this service outside school."

Before Dwyer had a counselor, administrators referred students to
contracted counselors, but there was no guarantee students would get
the help. Now, more students are getting counseling, and counselors
are getting more information. Teachers tell them when a student has
missed school, scored poorly on a test or started hanging out with a
different crowd.

Now that Salow's been at the school for nearly a year, students know
him and many trust him. Some stop him in the hallways between classes.
Others drop by his office for a few minutes before the bell rings just
to chat.

"They'll bring in their friends if they are concerned about them,"
Salow said. "They've become their own referral source."

There were 198 students enrolled in the intervention treatment program
this year, with sessions lasting an average of 96 days, said John
Fowler, CEO of the Drug Abuse Treatment Association. Of those
students, 77.4 percent did not use drugs or alcohol for a month before
they finished the program.

Some of those students met with counselors for reasons other than
substance abuse -- grief, anger or low grades -- but therapy sessions
uncovered problems with drugs and alcohol, said Heather Najmabadi,
counselor at Forest Hill High.

Najmabadi said many of the students she seeks would have never sought
professional counseling outside school.

"A lot of times they don't have someone who can take them to the
appointment," she said. "They don't have parents willing to be
involved or they don't know how to get involved."

With high school principals crediting the counselors for decreased
drug use, the district plans to quadruple the number of counselors in
schools next year and bring them into middle schools, where students
usually first experiment with drugs.

"We had been working for years trying to look at strategies that
reduce the impact of drugs on children," said Barbara Cox-Gerlock, an
administrator in the district's Safe Schools department. "Research is
showing that the earlier you intervene the better."

Officials are still working to design the program, but it's expected
to be similar to the high school model.

"It works like a dream," said Bill Basil, assistant principal at Dwyer
High. "Kids like him (counselor Salow), and he's making headway with a
lot of them. Before we just arrested them and sent them on their merry
way. Now we give them some help."