Pubdate: Fri, 18 Mar 2005
Source: Penticton Herald (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.pentictonherald.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/664
Author: John Moorhouse
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

PARENTS CALL FOR HEIGHTENED DRUG AWARENESS IN SCHOOLS

Penticton Herald Police liaison and drug awareness programs should be 
restored in local schools, parents told the Okanagan Skaha school board

Nawaz Patrick, of the McNicoll Park middle school parent advisory council, 
and Fred Kidner, of the Princess Margaret PAC, outlined their concerns to 
District 67 trustees at a special budget input meeting Wednesday night

Patrick said the district's current drug and alcohol awareness programs are 
not adequate. She said her son and many other students at McNicoll missed 
out on the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, which has been 
presented to different grades in recent years

"There's a whole group of kids who have not had the DARE program," she 
said. "I don't want my son to learn about this on the street." Kidner 
lamented the demise of the RCMP school liaison program, noting social 
issues are a growing problem in local schools. He suggested the school 
board work with the RCMP and city hall in reinstating the program, which 
was dropped a few years ago. Okanagan Skaha has received an additional $1.9 
million from the Ministry of Education for the 2005-06 school year. The 
school board is looking for input as it decides how to spend the extra funding

Trustee Larry Little, chairman of the board's finance committee, agreed the 
drug issue needs to be addressed on a community-wide basis, including in 
schools

"There is a problem with drugs in our community," said Little. "There's no 
sense in sticking your head in the sand like an ostrich. We have to deal 
with the situation." Little said he'd like to see the police liaison 
program reinstated as well

"I think it would be a good idea," he said. "If the city is willing to 
participate and the school board participates, that could be a win-win 
situation for everybody involved, including the RCMP." Meanwhile, CUPE and 
Okanagan Skaha Teachers' Union officials also outlined their budget 
priorities. Zoe Magnus, president of CUPE local 523, called on the board to 
use the extra funding to restore support services lost during the past few 
years of budget cuts

Colleen Wiens, the union's clerical shop steward, noted a recent national 
report said students who attend schools with well-funded, properly stocked 
libraries managed by qualified staff have higher achievement, improved 
literacy and greater success at the post-secondary level. "Currently, 
elementary school library clerks are staffed at approximately two minutes 
per student per week," she said

Teachers' union representatives called on the board to restore services for 
special needs students and reduce class sizes. OSTU president Garry Litke 
noted while the district has gained $1.9 million, that's less than half the 
$4 million it lost over the past four years. He called on the board to 
continue calling on the province to restore education funding to 2001-02 levels

"That means hiring 20 to 25 teachers for classrooms, libraries, learning 
assistance and special education during the next year. That means reopening 
Nkwala school," he said

Little welcomed the public inputfrom the meeting. He noted some of the $1.9 
million in additional funding is being withheld, pending finalization of 
enrolment numbers in September and other budget items. That leaves $1.4 
million for the school board to decide how to spend in its current 
deliberations. "It's not going to restore all the programs that were lost, 
but it's an opportunity to take some steps and some services to help out 
kids and help out educators within the system -both teachers and support 
staff," Little said. Frank Regehr, secretary-treasurer for District 67, 
said student enrolment has been declining steadily in recent years. Even if 
Penticton experiences significant population growth in the years ahead, 
Regehr said, the impact in schools is not likely to be felt for some time

"The enrolment decline for our district is just going to continue for an 
indefinite period of time," he said

The board is scheduled to adopt the 2005-06 budget on April 25.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom