WHILE D.A.R.E. OFFICIALS TINKER WITH CURRICULUM TO IMPROVE EFFECTIVENESS,
NEWTON DROPS THE PROGRAM IN LIEU OF RESOURCE OFFICERS

The Newton Police Department hasn't laid down its guns in the war
against drugs and underage alcohol use. It's merely chosen a different
front.

Citing a study that showed lower-than-anticipated results with the
D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program on a national
level, the department has done away with the program in Newton.

D.A.R.E., which started in local schools in 1994, places officers into
different classrooms -- mainly third through fifth grades --
throughout the school year to talk about strategies for students to
resist drugs and alcohol.

The department has opted, instead, to focus on its school resource
officer program, a partnership between the department and the school
system.

The program, officers say, has proven more effective in cultivating
positive relationships among police and students, and in turn, giving
officers more time and opportunities to talk about the illegal vices.

The Newton department's switch is part of a larger trend in school
districts across the country, where more are giving up targeted
anti-crime programs for the day-to-day interaction provided by
alternatives like the school resource officer program.

Resource Officer Chad Gay, left, talks to a student at Newton High
School. The high school resource officer's salary is paid by the
school district during the school year.

The D.A.R.E. organization has responded to the trend with revised
curriculum and an expanded target.

The updated version showed effective results in early studies late
last year, the national organization reported.

About 15,500 seventh-graders in Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark,
New Orleans and St. Louis took part in early trials conducted by
researchers at the Institute for Health and Social Policy at the
University of Akron. Researchers found the students given the new
curriculum were more likely to refuse drugs and had fewer
misconceptions about how many of their peers use drugs, compared to
students in a control group.

"It shows us that the program is doing what it intended to do, and in
a very significant way," said Zili Sloboda, an epidemiologist at the
Institute for Health and Social Policy and leader of the study.

The revised D.A.R.E. curriculum includes more lifelike situations and
helps students confront peer pressure more effectively, D.A.R.E.
reported. It also will target students not only in fifth grade, but in
seventh and ninth grades as well.

That's not convincing local officials.

Randy Jordan, left, resource officer in both of Newton's middle
schools, talks to a student. "I believe in the D.A.R.E. program, but I
also have positive feelings about the school resource program," Jordan
says.

Besides the duplication in services, Newton police Lt. Curtis
Nightingale, who oversees the department's two school resource
officers, said the department's financial constraints also played a
role in the decision to cut D.A.R.E. from the schools.

"We had to figure out different ways to do things," Nightingale said.
"It's an extremely popular program. We just weren't seeing a lot of
return out of it. it takes a lot of man hours trying to keep it going."

He said the D.A.R.E. program was costing the department hundreds of
dollars in overtime pay for officers conducting the classes. He
estimated the department paid about $50 in overtime per week for each
of the school district's 11 fifth-grade classes. Throw in the purchase
of classroom curriculum, T-shirts and other materials, costs began to
add up, he said.

The department and the school district share expenses for the school
resource officer program. At the high school, the district pays the
resource officer's salary during the school year. The department picks
up the officer's salary during the summer months and benefits
throughout the year.

At the middle schools, the program is in the fourth year of a
five-year federal grant that provides startup money, and then reduces
it each year. To keep the middle school program in place, department
officials hope to strike a deal with the school district similar to
the one it has for the high school program.

Different Angle

With the resource officer program in place at the middle and high
school levels, "we're attacking the problem from a different angle,"
Nightingale said.

Roni Smith's children were given graduation certificates from the
D.A.R.E. program. The Newton Police Department has opted to focus on
its school resource officer program, rather than D.A.R.E.

He said the resource officers are developing programs aimed at
decision-making and will be trying to implement standardized
curriculum for students.

"With an officer in the schools all day, every day throughout the
school year, they develop a rapport with the students and the
teachers," Nightingale said. "Officers begin to learn how things are
done in the school setting. It's more effective. It generates a better
atmosphere."

D.A.R.E. was limited, Nightingale said, in its scope of influence on
students.

"You had a particular age group for X number of weeks," he said.
"There really wasn't any follow through. That was its major weakness.
Based on what we've seen and what we're doing, we're getting a much
better success with our school resource program."

That doesn't sit well with some.

"I think it's sad," said Roni Smith, the mother of five children who
graduated from the D.A.R.E. program in Newton.

Smith said her children gained a sense of accomplishment in graduating
from the D.A.R.E. program. They had to work hard, she said, learning
valuable lessons as they went.

"It's not just one person coming in and working with them one day,"
Smith said. "It shows a real commitment, not only with the kids, but
with the officers as well. It was so valuable."

The D.A.R.E. program in Newton was a 17-week course taught in
fifth-grade classes. Officers spent one hour, one day a week in each
class.

Students were required to write an essay before they graduated. The
graduation ceremony itself, Smith said, gave her children a sense of
pride, involving their families as a support group of sorts.

"I remember my kids talking about how much they loved the officers,"
Smith said. "They built connections with them. That's what made me
real sad when I found out we didn't have it anymore."

Smith said the program is worth it if it keeps one child off of drugs
and alcohol. She said the structured, classroom environment of a
D.A.R.E. program impresses on children the seriousness of the
program's message.

Mixed Feelings

Randy Jordan, the resource officer in Newton's two middle schools --
Santa Fe and Chisholm -- and the department's first D.A.R.E.
instructor, said he has mixed feelings on the loss of D.A.R.E.

"The school resource officer program is basically a nationwide trend
that pretty much has taken the place of D.A.R.E. in most areas,"
Jordan said. "The idea is we're in the school the entire school year,
interacting with kids all the time."

Resource officers also make classroom presentations on a variety of
student-related issues.

"We're discussing a lot of the same issues that the D.A.R.E. program
addresses -- gang violence, drug and alcohol use," Jordan said. "We're
in the school. It gives us an opportunity to develop more of a
relationship with the kids. They see us more often. They just see us
in a different light than they would see the normal police officer.
With the D.A.R.E. program, I was in the schools a lot, but not like I
am as a school resource officer."

With D.A.R.E., Jordan was assigned to teach classes in each of the
district's four elementary schools, including Walton, in addition to
the two middle schools.

"I was spread pretty thin," Jordan said. "I didn't have the
opportunity to be at the school and interact with the kids as much as
I'd like.

"I have mixed emotions about it," Jordan said. "Research is saying the
D.A.R.E. program is not as effective as they thought it would be. The
followups are not really there. With the middle school kids, research
is saying we were losing them at that level. We're teaching them at
third, fourth and fifth, but we're losing them at the middle school
level.

"I believe in the D.A.R.E. program, but I also have positive feelings
about the school resource program," Jordan said. "I don't think we're
making a mistake. I believe we're doing the right thing."

Nationally, the D.A.R.E. program was developed in 1983. According to
the national organization, D.A.R.E. is taught in more than 80 percent
of the school districts in the country and in 54 foreign countries,
affecting more than 36 million children.

Other Help

While D.A.R.E. is gone, Newton police Officer Jan McCloud, who was the
last officer to teach D.A.R.E. in the schools, said the department
will continue its Survival Kids program in the district's third-grade
classrooms.

In its fifth year, the program teaches various safety topics one time
each month from October to April. The program calls on other emergency
service departments -- such as 911 and fire/EMS -- to help teach the
lessons, which include personal safety, fire safety, use of 911, seat
belts, firearm safety, bicycle and roller blade safety, and water
safety. The children then have a graduation ceremony, where they
receive participation certificates.