Bloomingdale schools may lose DARE
In an effort to cut costs but maintain connections between police and students, Bloomingdale leaders on Monday discussed revamping the DARE program, or Drug Abuse Resistance Education.
Currently, the 11-week program puts community relations Officer Dawn Odoi in fifth-grade classrooms for one hour per week, per class at several Bloomingdale-area schools.
Police Deputy Chief Randy Sater told a village board committee that this setup requires a large majority of Odoi's payroll hours, as she prepares lessons and grades papers. The DARE program also creates additional costs with giveaways and T-shirts that officials hope to reduce.
"Our intention is not to drop it and do nothing," Village President Bob Iden said. "We just want to develop an alternative program."
Sater cited programs in suburbs like Hanover Park and Elk Grove Village that offer regular, police-led assemblies for entire schools on topics like drug and alcohol prevention, bullying and Internet safety. He also suggested additional, periodic police meetings with staff and students in various grade levels to help maintain familiarity between students and officers.
He said other officers could participate aside from Odoi, freeing her time for additional police duties.
Bloomingdale trustees spoke in support of the proposal, since it stretches beyond DARE's focus of only drug and alcohol prevention and addresses modern issues like the Internet. They also noted the program would reach out to students beyond fifth grade.
Iden instructed Sater to continue researching a DARE alternative and to create a structured proposal that could potentially be implemented next fall. The issue will be discussed at a future village board meeting, although a date has not been set.
"People all like (DARE), but a lot of people also felt maybe it has run its course," Sater said. "I think we're at a crossroads now, especially with the economic times ... I think we could get a lot of the same things accomplished with a lot less time and money."