SCHOOLS MAKE DO WITH FEWER POLICE

Reduction To Affect DARE Program

There are fewer St. Paul police officers in the public schools this year,
and a program to deter drug abuse by elementary students left with them.

Although the district has a plan to make sure students are educated about
ways to resist drugs, finding a way to return the police presence to last
year's level will be more difficult.

On Tuesday, St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington sat down with the St.
Paul Board of Education to talk about the changes. Police presence has
declined from 16 officers to a dozen. The city's seven high schools kept
their officers, but the other five officers split their time among eight
middle schools and junior highs, leaving no time for DARE, or Drug Abuse
Resistance Education, in the elementary schools.

The reduction is part of "the fiscal realities the city has to live with,"
Harrington said. He noted that with the loss of DARE, officers also have
lost all contact with children at private and charter schools.

This year, the police program in the St. Paul public schools costs the
district $914,000, with the city paying $100,000 of that total. The city
and the district previously had split the cost evenly for more than a decade.

"We've shifted to a very minor contribution from the city," said Al
Oertwig, a board member. And if the district uses its general fund money to
help pay for police officers in the schools, it has less money to hire
teachers, he said. Mayor Randy Kelly and the City Council should revisit
the decision to stop splitting the cost, he added.

To replace DARE, the schools are using a curriculum called "Steps to
Respect" in 18 of its 48 elementary schools, said Raymond Yu, head of
student services. There are plans to expand it to all elementary schools in
the next two years.

Harrington, who is preparing next year's Police Department budget, said the
force already is stretched thin. He noted that St. Paul has 1.9 officers
per 1,000 residents, while the average for a city of St. Paul's size is 2.9
per 1,000. And for a city with St. Paul's crime rate, the average would be
3.4 officers per 1,000 residents, he said.

But Harrington said that crime rates have fallen since the mid-1990s
despite the smaller police force. "We're doing more with less and we're
doing it well," he said. "We're our own worst enemy in that regard."

The board also took a preliminary look at the projected maximum tax levy
for 2005 that homeowners see in property tax statements. The district
expects that its levy will be $72.9 million, a decrease of about $900,000
from this year's level.

While enrollment is projected to fall this year, Finance Director Lois
Rockney said it's not what's bringing down the projected tax levy. The
health and safety levy, driven by ongoing projects, is the biggest factor,
she said. The board is expected to give the levy preliminary approval at
its meeting Tuesday.