Crime & Safety
Tough Economy Puts D.A.R.E. Funding at Risk
But even as City Council considers eliminating D.A.R.E., it also considers expanding it to District 66.
A class of fifth graders at Lace School let out a collective shriek as a picture of Santa Claus flashed on a screen at the front of the room. Santa looked jolly enough—all rosy cheeks and cottony beard. Except the thin, white stick hanging from his mouth was no candy cane—it was a cigarette.
The Santa ad is one of dozens D.A.R.E. Officer Nick Skweres, of the Darien Police Department, shows students during his lecture on the way tobacco companies try to reach kids through advertising. D.A.R.E. is traditionally known as a program aimed at keeping kids off drugs, but in recent years has expanded its focus to include Internet safety, bullying and finding good role models.
Skweres has been Darien's D.A.R.E. officer for nearly two years. He replaced retired Officer Ralph Menzione, who led the D.A.R.E. program when Skweres was a student in the city's schools.
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But Darien's D.A.R.E. program now finds itself in a tough spot: It's simultaneously being considered for expansion into District 66 and in danger of being cut completely because of funding issues.
"It's on the bubble," said Ward Six Alderwoman Sylvia McIvor, who is chair of Darien's Police Committee. "We're in a very challenging budget cycle."
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City Council first discussed eliminating funding for D.A.R.E. last spring when it determined the budget for fiscal year 2010-11. Schools across Illinois have struggled with supporting the program since former Gov. George Ryan eliminated $1.5 million in state funding for D.A.R.E. in 2003. Wheaton and Downers Grove discontinued D.A.R.E. in recent years, and Lemont has considered cutting it.
Even as the future of D.A.R.E. in Darien hangs in the balance, the Police Committee discussed expanding it to District 66 in its Oct. 13 Goal Setting Session. District 66 now implements Too Good for Drugs, a program run by the DuPage County Sherriff's Office. Superintendent Jay Tiede said the Police Committee had yet to open talks with District 66 about the proposed expansion.
In the 2010-11 budget, City Council directed $79,100 to fund the D.A.R.E. officer's salary, and an additional $6,000 to support other aspects of the program. D.A.R.E. also receives $2,000-$3,000 from District 61 and $1,000 from District 63 for purchasing materials.
Each week in District 61 and 63, as well as Our Lady of Peace School, Skweres teaches 12 D.A.R.E. classes to fifth graders and a total of four classes to junior high students. More classes are scheduled to be added during the third quarter of the school year.
In addition to leading the D.A.R.E. classes, Skweres is also the police department's community relations officer, running programs such as the Citizens' Police Academy and the Junior Police Academy.
Alderwoman Carolyn Gattuso, Ward Four, supported D.A.R.E. last spring and intends on speaking in favor of the program again this budget cycle. She said she encouraged the city to continue funding D.A.R.E. because of personal experiences with the damage drug and alcohol abuse can cause.
Two distant cousins on Gattuso's husband's side of the family died from drug-related causes, and a close friend's son drowned after drinking too much, she said.
"If [D.A.R.E.] makes kids even stop for one second and think about what they're doing, it's worthwhile," she said.
Skweres said lectures such as the one about tobacco ads do more than just teach students about the issue at hand. "On the road [police] are the bad guys writing tickets and making arrests," Skweres said. "But through the D.A.R.E. program kids learn to trust us."
McIvor said it's not a question about whether D.A.R.E. is an effective program. "It's just like art and music," she said. "They're great classes to have, but when you're in a tough economic situation, those discretionary items are the first to go."
During budget season, City Council and its committees will review each department's budget line by line and discuss the discretionary items in detail, she said. The 2010-11 budget was the first one McIvor said she recalled analyzing in such great detail.
Darien's final budget will be submitted in late March. Skweres said it's difficult to see students respond well to D.A.R.E. while the program's future is so uncertain.
"I want to know, year to year, this program is going to be here, even after I'm gone," he said.
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