CITY'S DRUG ARRESTS TALK LEADS TO D.A.R.E. QUESTIONS

A Winchester City Council committee wants to know whether the city
school system could reinstate its Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.

The idea surfaced Monday after Winchester Police Chief Gary W.
Reynolds presented the Community Safety and Services Committee with
figures about adult drug arrests city patrols made in December 2003.

Reynolds' chart lists 23 adults arrested on 27 drug charges, primarily
for cocaine and marijuana possession. The adult arrest rate on drug
charges averages 27 to 32 a month, he added.

On average, there are a similar number of juvenile drug arrests each
month, Reynolds said.

Reynolds' comments prompted Winchester Fire and Rescue Chief Lynn A.
Miller to ask if the city's arrest numbers are related to the
elimination of the D.A.R.E. program in public schools.

Following the meeting, Reynolds said he does not have any statistics
showing a rise in juvenile drug arrests since Winchester Public
Schools ended the program, which is taught by trained, uniformed
police officers.

The School Board dropped the program about five years ago. It was
difficult to provide the class time needed at the elementary level
after state mandates called for schools to spend at least 75 percent
of each day on English and math instruction, school system Coordinator
of Instruction George Craig said Monday.

The schools had D.A.R.E. classes in fourth and fifth grades for an
hour each day over about 18 weeks, Craig added.

The city school system replaced D.A.R.E. with The Great Body Shop,
which provides information about drug and alcohol abuse to students
from kindergarten through fifth grade within science classes, Craig
said.

Dennis Kellison, superintendent of the Winchester Public Schools, said
Monday he would be open to talking with city officials about whether
to reinstate the D.A.R.E. program.

City officials may continue talks on the subject next month at
Winchester's Health, Education, and Welfare Committee meeting.

Present at the meeting in the Timbrook Public Safety Center were Omps,
Minor, Michael L. Butler, Charles T. Gaynor, and Glen P. Burke.
Jeffrey B. Buettner, Timothy S. Coyne, Theodora L. Rezba, and Philip
E. Pate were absent.