DARE: BOLLINGER COUNTY HOPES FOR PROGRAM

MARBLE HILL -- Bollinger County commissioners say the county needs a DARE officer to help educate students about the dangers of drug abuse.

At its meeting Monday, the commission said it hopes to work with the county's schools to obtain a grant to establish a DARE program. DARE is an acronym for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

The money would be used to hire another officer in the sheriff's department. The officer would regularly visit elementary schools as part of an effort to encourage children to stay away from drugs.

Presiding Commissioner Ken Trentham said the county needs to help address the drug problem. He also said the DARE program could help address school violence.

Last year there were two incidents in schools in which students threatened other students with guns, Trentham said.

DARE is a 17-week program taught to fifth- or sixth-graders in the classroom by a uniformed police officer. Officers provide information about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. They also provide strategies to help students resist peer pressure to use or abuse drugs.

Two representatives of the Meadow Heights School District in Patton asked the commission Monday to help secure funding to pay for a DARE officer.

Tom Sieburg, principal of the Meadow Heights Elementary School, said fifth-graders need to be educated about the dangers of drugs.

Meadow Heights had a DARE officer in the 1995-1996 school year. The officer worked for the Southeast Missouri State University police force. She left to take a job with the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Since then, Sieburg said he has called a number of area law enforcement agencies. So far he hasn't found any agency with an available DARE officer. DARE officers must undergo special training provided by the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Bollinger County Sheriff Dennis Willis only has four deputies in his department. Sieburg said the sheriff's department doesn't have the manpower to assign a deputy to handle DARE duties.

Randy Miller, pastor of the Little Whitewater Baptist Church in Patton, serves on a health committee for the Meadow Heights School District. Miller told commissioners he is concerned about the possibility of schoolchildren stumbling upon methamphetamine labs in the woods.

He said children need to be made aware of the environmental dangers posed my meth labs and the possibility they may be booby-trapped.

Trentham suggested the county's four public school districts and two private schools join forces and pay part of the cost of matching any grant. He said the county also might contribute matching funds.

Since taking office in January, Trentham has helped set up a citizens committee to work toward securing state and federal grants for programs and projects.

For the first time ever, the County Commission has budgeted money to provide matching funds for grants. The commission included $30,000 in its $1.95 million budget for this fiscal year. Bollinger County's fiscal year runs from January through December.