In the coming weeks, Colonie Supervisor Paula Mahan said she plans to meet with officers involved in the D.A.R.E. program to discuss whether to keep the $400,000 program in the future.
We need to determine what is the best approach [to drug abuse resistance education], said Mahan.
According to town Comptroller Craig Blair, the $400,000 that the town pays to operate the program goes entirely toward the salaries and benefits of the four officers who teach the 10-week D.A.R.E., or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, program in the Town of Colonie. One of those officers is also a South Colonie Central School District school resource officer. The district pays $40,000 for that service.
Mahan said that it is really important to maintain a partnership between the police department and the school district, but the town will be looking into whether the program is the most effective way to keep students away from drugs.
Colonie Police Chief Steven Heider said the program has a real value to the students and the community.
`The purpose of D.A.R.E is to prepare these kids to conscientiously say no,` Heider said. `The hope is to teach them about it before they’re exposed to it.`
D.A.R.E. was founded in Los Angeles in 1983. Topics covered in the program include: alcohol abuse, self-esteem, gangs, drugs, personal safety and more.
While funding for some of the items handed out in the program, including key chains and pencils, primarily comes from fundraisers, sponsors and community events, tools used in the program, such as workbooks, have been funded in previous years by federal and state sources. However, faced with a tight budget this year, the state cut the $1,000 funding for the workbooks, according to Heider.
Despite the loss of $1,000 in state funding, the town decided to continue the program, which is taught in all elementary schools in the town, with an abridged version used in the junior and senior high schools. The program takes up one period, one day per week (for each student), for 10 weeks.
Heider said the police department will cover the costs of the workbooks through an educational fund balance the police department has set aside, as well as D.A.R.E. program fundraisers.
`We have money to more than support the program,` said Heider.
One thing that never was funded by the state and is instead funded by the Town of Colonie is the salary and benefits of the four officers who are certified to teach D.A.R.E. in the schools in Colonie.
`It comes out to about $100,000 per [officer],` according to Blair.
The base salary of a typical officer in the Colonie Police Department is around $42,000, according to Heider, while certified D.A.R.E. officers are paid more.
`If we did away with the D.A.R.E. program, it wouldn’t save $300,000,` said Heider, adding that the four certified D.A.R.E. officers would continue to be paid about $100,000 each.
Heider said that to be certified for the D.A.R.E. program, officers must attend a one-time, two-week course, which is usually held out of town. That training was previously funded by the state but is no longer. However, Heider said, the police department will not have to incur training costs this year because all four officers are already certified.
Of the four officers, the one hired by the South Colonie Central School District as a school resource officer has duties that include monitoring activity inside Colonie Central High School, as well as creating a police presence in the school in an effort to make students comfortable with police and build a bridge of respect. The $40,000 the school district pays to have a school resource officer goes toward the police department budget.
North Colonie Central School District does not to have a school resource officer.
Heider said, in order to have that officer maintain his D.A.R.E. certification while working as a school resource officer, South Colonie’s officer also teaches D.A.R.E. one morning per week for the 10-week program at Shaker Road Elementary School.
Heider said that in other areas, the D.A.R.E program runs for 17 weeks, but officers chose to make it 10 weeks to `customize` it for Colonie.
Heider said the police department determined the shorter program allowed some elements to be replaced by coverage of more local issues and also free up more time for the D.A.R.E officers to conduct their other duties, such as patrolling community events like marathons and walks and events at the Crossings of Colonie.
In her past experience as an educator, Mahan said, `I saw the benefits of having that program in the schools with the police officers.`
Mahan also said that she believes the programs are preventative and that there is a need for a police officer presence in the schools, whether it be with D.A.R.E. or the school resource officer, but she will continue to study the most cost-effective way to do it.
Mahan said, now that the budget for the coming year has been completed, she will meet with former D.A.R.E. officers to discuss the program and what could be done to strengthen it. She said she hopes to bring the school district on board to think creatively about how to make sure students are receiving the best education that will prevent them from using drugs.
Director of Town Operations Peter Gannon said, `Our responsibility is to make the right choices for the people of the town. If the consensus is that the D.A.R.E. program isn’t working, then we would consider other options.“