D.A.R.E. MAY BE OUT OF SCHOOLS

BEAUMONT -- School districts are daring to eliminate the D.A.R.E. program
from their curriculum this year, but not because the county's budget isn't
willing to pay for it -- the program's just not keeping kids off drugs.

Officers dedicated to the program aren't losing their jobs, they are
heading back to the streets.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department was the first to plead its case
for funds as county budget hearings began this week. Regaining three
full-time employees, formerly DARE officers whose salaries will no longer
be augmented by school districts eliminating the program, will mean more
funds needed for the sheriff's operating budget.

D.A.R.E., Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is a program that puts officers
into the schools to educate students about the hazards of drug abuse and to
promote a drug-free lifestyle.

Studies have questioned the effectiveness of DARE and many school districts
are no longer willing to provide matching funds to a questionable program.

"I think there's a lot of schools with tight budgets that have a hard time
justifying the cost of the program," Sheriff Mitch Woods said. "There's
studies that show that the DARE program isn't showing significant cuts in
drug use."

Out of five original DARE officers, three will no longer be involved in the
program this year and the county will again be funding their entire
salaries and benefits -- 15 percent of which was previously paid by the
school district.

Leroy Saleme, the county's new budget officer, said budget hearings give
each county department head a chance to make their case for the local tax
dollars their department needs for next year.

Sheriff Woods said he's confident the commissioners will "act in a manner"
that's best for the county, but the budget hearings are a chance for them
to notice the expenses absorbed by his department that should be paid by
the county.

"We're just trying to show that costs are involved that we've been
absorbing," Woods said of items like bullet-proof vests, handcuffs and
other equipment used by deputies who work in courthouse security.

Saleme said nothing can be decided until Patrick Swain, the county's
auditor, determines what revenue will be available during the next fiscal
year. So far, he said, Swain has expressed the county's revenue is down
because of losses in sales tax revenue, low interest rates and increasing
expenditures -- especially in health insurance.

"Our health insurance cost is a $10-$12 million item," Saleme said, adding
the rate increases this year are reaching 25-30 percent. "That's an
increase of about $2.5 million alone."

A workshop next week on health insurance, he hopes, will provide options
for the county to decrease those costs.

For now, Saleme said the county will try to maintain the budget
expenditures currently in place.