CARLSBAD SCHOOL DRUG PROGRAM TO EXPAND

CARLSBAD -- Carlsbad Unified School District trustees will be asked tonight
to approve a proposal that could lead to expansion of what officials have
described as a highly successful drug and alcohol prevention and treatment
program.

Trustees will be asked to OK the purchase of a portable classroom building
to be installed on the Magnolia Avenue campus of the Carlsbad Village
Academy continuation high school. Academy Principal Keith Holley said the
portable building will be joined to an existing portable to allow expansion
of the Scripps Student Assistance Program.

Established in September 1990, the Scripps program is operated by Scripps
Memorial Hospital in La Jolla in partnership with the district and serves
students from throughout the district, Holley said.

"I've worked with drug and alcohol programs for 27 years, and this is one of
the best if not the best I've ever seen," Holley said.

Dr. Julie Kunin, the director, said the program on average serves about 35
youngsters ranging in age from 12 to 18. She said there have been 80
graduates thus far from the 12-week program.

Follow-up checks, she said, have shown that 12 months after graduation about
80 percent -- or 64 -- of the young people continue to be free of drugs and
alcohol.

The program heavily involves the families of the youngsters both during and
after graduation and offers support to parents whose children are in
recovery or struggling with recovery, Kunin said.

Kunin said the additional building will allow the treatment center to expand
to include after-school programs for middle school students. The only
after-school program offered now is for high school students.

"One of the things we notice is that substance abuse many times begins in
middle school," Kunin said. "All the county data shows it begins about age
13 on average. So we would like to nip that in the bud," she said.

The Scripps program is operated at no cost to the school district through
county and state grants.

If trustees approve the purchase, Holley said the Scripps program will pay
the estimated $32,000 cost of the building plus set-up and installation
expenses.

Trustees meet beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council chambers at City
Hall, 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive.