Rockwood Schools Drop D.A.R.E. Education Classes

Rockwood School District fifth graders will no longer be dared to graduate from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. Rockwood officials have ended the district's nearly 25 years of participation in the national program.

The news shocked and surprised many parents.

D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug- and violence-free lives. Locally, the program has been implemented during the fifth grade of elementary school, serving as a rites of passage for that important milestone year in students' education.

D.A.R.E. programs are taught in the Fenton area in the , , , elementary schools.

Schools within the Rockwood District have participated in the D.A.R.E. program since 1988, according to Eureka Police Department Chief Michael Wiegand.

Parents contacted Patch in a variety of ways, asking why the program would be eliminated.

"Rockwood School District has officially decided to eliminate the DARE program without parent involvement in the decision! Please keep in mind that the program does not cost the district any money, so this has nothing to do with budget cuts," said Lisa Kolaks Helterbrand in a post on the Eureka-Wildwood Patch Facebook page. "This is the first time many of our children get to have a personal, positive relationship with a police officer and they learn so much valuable information, not only about drugs and alcohol, but about friendships, self-esteem, etc."

Wiegand said he was told Rockwood's health and physical education classes from kindergarten through fifth grade already instruct students in most of the topics covered in D.A.R.E.

"Not taught is the different ways to 'say no' to drugs, and some role playing that the D.A.R.E. officers teach in the classroom, though," he said.

Kim Cranston, Rockwood School District chief communications officer, said the decision to eliminate D.A.R.E. is a change to and expansion of the district's drug prevention programs.

"This is a change in an instructional model; not a change in our emphasis or focus on educating students about substance abuse and the importance of making good choices," she said.

Cranston said district officials are expanding the scope of the instruction provided by the D.A.R.E. program to include students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

"The D.A.R.E. program is limited to fifth grade students. We are doing this (the expansion) through our health curriculum, which already addresses the same objectives and topics as the D.A.R.E. program," she said.

As part of the expanded curriculum, Cranston said police officers and other special guests will be invited to share their expertise with students on topics including drug-prevention, safety, bullying, peer pressure, citizenship and community service. 

"These discussions will continue to allow students to have positive interactions with law enforcement officers and other adults," she said.

Parents concerned about the D.A.R.E. program being dropped are collecting comments, feedback and questions from other interested parents. Comments can be e-mailed by May 20 to sungazing@gmail.com.

Ironically, a D.A.R.E. graduation was held Thursday afternoon at in Eureka.

D.A.R.E. was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles. According to the program's website, its success led to it being implemented in 75 percent of the nation's school districts and in more than 43 countries around the world.