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2. School Resource Officer12 1 s- AvE EAST - PO Box 199 7- ALISPE .L, NIT 59-903 E-MAIL- PDC—K < ELF .COM REPORT: honorable Mayor and City Council FROM: Frank darner, Chief of Police SUBJECT: School Resource Officer/D.A.R.E. Teaching Format WORK SESSION: August 15, 2005 BACKGROUND: The Kalispell Police Department has taught the D.A.R.E. curriculum for fifteen years. The course was originally taught to 6 h grade students but has more recently been taught at the 5'1' grade level. Kalispell has been the only department in our region that has continued to teach the program. Though D.A.R.E. has been exceptionally effective on building positive relationships between students and police officers its effect on teen drug use has been limited. Over the past few years the department has also been involved in the School Resource Officer program at the high school and junior high. The SRO program involves police officers in a triad model that promotes teaching, counseling and enforcement. The SRO program has been extremely successful in developing positive relationships between the department, the school district and students. As a result of the new high school, Kalispell will be the beneficiary of a new middle school containing grades 6 through 8. As these changes approach the department has begun to look critically at how it can better affect teen drug use. In reviewing the D.A.R.E. program with the school district, the officers involved in the program, and concerned members of the community the department feels it will be more effective to transition from the D.A.R.E. curriculum to the School Resource Officer model in the new middle school. The department feels the School Resource Officer model will allow officers to participate more completely with students and teachers without being tied strictly to the D.A.R.E. curriculum. With restrictions placed on school districts by the "No Child Left Behind" mandates it has become increasingly necessary to optimize class time. SROs would be able to participate with the district in their drug prevention programs through the health curriculum rather than compete for time with them. More importantly SROs would be more free to develop positive relationships with students and participate more freely as needs arise, rather than participating in only 5' grade classes once a week through the strictly defined D.A.R.E. curriculum. The middle school SRO would replace the D.A.R.E. Officer position. FRANK IG7 F"NIER. C IET OF PC CL 4 ROGER KR USs.As ISTA T, CHIEF of POLICE ` twigh The department feels it has an inherent responsibility to critically review its processes in determining how to most effectively combat crime issues. It is our belief that though the D.A.R.E. program has been a valuable resource to the community, the School Resource Officer program will make better use of our resources and will prove to be a more effective tool in making schools safe, improving our drug prevention efforts and developing positive relationships with students. RECOMMENDATIONS: The police department should develop a middle school SRO to participate in drug prevention, enforcement, counseling, mentoring and teaching. FISCAL EFFECTS: As described. ALTERNATIVES: As recommended by Council. Respectfully submitted, Fr Garner Chief of Police 6) KAL�SPELL FOUCE DEPARTMENT im Patrick City Manager PAGE