PARENTS CALL FOR HEIGHTENED DRUG AWARENESS IN SCHOOLS

Penticton Herald Police liaison and drug awareness programs should be
restored in local schools, parents told the Okanagan Skaha school board

Nawaz Patrick, of the McNicoll Park middle school parent advisory council,
and Fred Kidner, of the Princess Margaret PAC, outlined their concerns to
District 67 trustees at a special budget input meeting Wednesday night

Patrick said the district's current drug and alcohol awareness programs are
not adequate. She said her son and many other students at McNicoll missed
out on the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, which has been
presented to different grades in recent years

"There's a whole group of kids who have not had the DARE program," she
said. "I don't want my son to learn about this on the street." Kidner
lamented the demise of the RCMP school liaison program, noting social
issues are a growing problem in local schools. He suggested the school
board work with the RCMP and city hall in reinstating the program, which
was dropped a few years ago. Okanagan Skaha has received an additional $1.9
million from the Ministry of Education for the 2005-06 school year. The
school board is looking for input as it decides how to spend the extra funding

Trustee Larry Little, chairman of the board's finance committee, agreed the
drug issue needs to be addressed on a community-wide basis, including in
schools

"There is a problem with drugs in our community," said Little. "There's no
sense in sticking your head in the sand like an ostrich. We have to deal
with the situation." Little said he'd like to see the police liaison
program reinstated as well

"I think it would be a good idea," he said. "If the city is willing to
participate and the school board participates, that could be a win-win
situation for everybody involved, including the RCMP." Meanwhile, CUPE and
Okanagan Skaha Teachers' Union officials also outlined their budget
priorities. Zoe Magnus, president of CUPE local 523, called on the board to
use the extra funding to restore support services lost during the past few
years of budget cuts

Colleen Wiens, the union's clerical shop steward, noted a recent national
report said students who attend schools with well-funded, properly stocked
libraries managed by qualified staff have higher achievement, improved
literacy and greater success at the post-secondary level. "Currently,
elementary school library clerks are staffed at approximately two minutes
per student per week," she said

Teachers' union representatives called on the board to restore services for
special needs students and reduce class sizes. OSTU president Garry Litke
noted while the district has gained $1.9 million, that's less than half the
$4 million it lost over the past four years. He called on the board to
continue calling on the province to restore education funding to 2001-02 levels

"That means hiring 20 to 25 teachers for classrooms, libraries, learning
assistance and special education during the next year. That means reopening
Nkwala school," he said

Little welcomed the public inputfrom the meeting. He noted some of the $1.9
million in additional funding is being withheld, pending finalization of
enrolment numbers in September and other budget items. That leaves $1.4
million for the school board to decide how to spend in its current
deliberations. "It's not going to restore all the programs that were lost,
but it's an opportunity to take some steps and some services to help out
kids and help out educators within the system -both teachers and support
staff," Little said. Frank Regehr, secretary-treasurer for District 67,
said student enrolment has been declining steadily in recent years. Even if
Penticton experiences significant population growth in the years ahead,
Regehr said, the impact in schools is not likely to be felt for some time

"The enrolment decline for our district is just going to continue for an
indefinite period of time," he said

The board is scheduled to adopt the 2005-06 budget on April 25.