SUPPORTERS SEEK TO SAVE SCHOOL PROGRAMS

End To DARE, Deputy Friendly Posts Proposed'

Supporters of the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and the
Deputy Friendly programs are hoping to persuade the Racine County
Board to find the money to keep both programs for another year.

Plans now call for elimination of both programs at the end of the
school year.

The Deputy Friendly Program focuses on children's safety and is
designed to develop an early understanding of and appreciation for the
positive role that law enforcement plays in protecting and aiding
families. The deputy assigned to the position visits schools
throughout Racine County.

DARE seeks to teach children how to recognize and resist the pressures
that might lead them to try drugs, alcohol and tobacco. The DARE
officer typically works with fifth- and sixth-graders and also with
middle-school students.

Racine County Sheriff Robert Carlson has proposed eliminating the two
positions, along with a warrant officer position and a clerical job,
from the 2005 budget. Carlson said he can no longer afford to pay the
$85,000 in salaries and benefits for each of the two positions.

If the programs are eliminated, Deputy Friendly officer Tim Graves and
the DARE officer Steve Sikora would be reassigned, Carlson said.

But a lobbying effort is gaining momentum, with people from the
Waterford Area Chamber of Commerce leading the charge.

"We don't want to see the programs go," said Raegan Dexter, executive
director of the Waterford Area Chamber of Commerce.

People who want to support the program are being asked to do the
following:

Sign a petition.

Call or e-mail a County Board supervisor asking him or her to support
the programs. People can find out what County Board district they are
in and who their supervisor is by going to www.racineco.com and
clicking on County Board.

Attend the public hearing on the 2005 proposed county budget at 6:30
p.m. Oct. 28. Free bus service to the meeting is being provided by
Thomas Bus Service. One bus will leave from behind Union Grove High
School at 5:30 p.m., and the other will leave the Center St. parking
lot at Waterford High School at 5:30 p.m. Each person who rides the
buses will get a DARE T-shirt.

Dexter said the goal is to get at least 200 people at the hearing to
support the programs.

Gary Tilleros, assistant superintendent of the Waterford Graded School
District, and teacher Nancy Dziedzic, a fifth-grade teacher at
Woodfield Elementary School, said both programs had been successful in
the district.

"The personnel provided by the Racine County Sheriff's Department to
work in these capacities in our school district have been
well-equipped and have established a good rapport with our teachers,
staff and students in both the elementary and middle school level,"
Tilleros said.

Dziedzic said students had developed a trust in law enforcement
generally and in the people who have worked as the DARE officer and
Deputy Friendly.

"The DARE officer always gives students his phone number and lets them
know that they can call him if they really need help, and I know the
officers have come through and helped students outside of the
classroom," Dziedzic said. "These are the kinds of positive
ramifications you get from having an officer in the classroom."

Dexter said the hope is that the county will continue to fund the
programs for another year while supporters try to find money to
support the programs.

Carlson said he doesn't want to discourage people from making the
effort to save the program, but he said he's not optimistic.

"I simply don't have the dollars in my budget, and I'm frankly not
optimistic that the money can be found," Carlson said. "I'm just not
optimistic the money can be found anywhere in the county budget. I'm
not saying they shouldn't try. They should have their voices heard."

For information about the petition drive or bus service to the Racine
County Board public hearing, call the Waterford Area Chamber.