Dare to question D.A.R.E.?

Sunday, September 13, 2009

According to this link at the City of Cincinnati, the police department is still actively pursuing the D.A.R.E. program in Cincinnati Public Schools.  This raises some questions.  How much, if anything, does this cost not only the district, but the City?  Is this the most effective use of police officers’ time in our current citywide climate?  And why isn’t drug education just part of the health curriculum, instead of part of a pull-out program?

Here’s the City’s current description:

DARE Squad, supervised by a sergeant, is responsible for implementing and coordinating the DARE program. Kindergarten through eighth grade classes are instructed by police officers in all Cincinnati public schools and selected private schools. Fundamental courses are given to kindergarten through fourth grade students. The core of the program is taught to fifth grade students and upon successful completion they graduate from the DARE course. Reinforcement classes are then given to students in grades six through eight.

Why isn’t drug education just included as part of the regular health curriculum? 

Speaking of health education, does CPS have a district wide health curriculum?  And if so, what does it include? 

I was originally interested to see what the high school health curriculum included in terms of things like sex education.  This simple inquiry, however, got obscured.  See the series of emails below:

From August 23:

from Jason Haap
to CPS Customer Service Center
date Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 9:08 AM
subject Health/Sex Ed Curriculum

I was wondering if it would be possible to see a copy of the district’s high school curriculum for health/sex education.  I do understand that several high schools may have different core courses of study by virtue of their different instructional models, but I figure that something like health/sex ed would be standard.

Thanks for any clarification,

Jason Haap

From August 26:

from CPS Customer Service Center
to Jason Haap
date Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 12:03 PM
subject Re: Health/Sex Ed Curriculum

Thank you for your email.  I forwarded it to our Curriculum Director.
Jane Zultoski

From August 29:

from Jason Haap
to CPS Customer Service Center
date Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 9:05 AM
subject Re: Health/Sex Ed Curriculum

Thanks for your help with this.  Do you know when I might expect a response, or is there an email where I may contact the curriculum director directly?

Thanks,

Jason

From September 1:

from CPS Customer Service Center
to Jason Haap
date Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 9:35 AM
subject Re: Health/Sex Ed Curriculum

The email is:  .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Jane

From September 3:

from Jason Haap
to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
date Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 6:24 PM
subject Fwd: Health/Sex Ed Curriculum

As you can see from the exchange below, I was given your contact regarding my inquiry.

As a matter of public record, can you provide me details on CPS’s curriculum regarding sex ed?  I do understand that several high schools may have different core courses of study by virtue of their different instructional models, but I figure that something like health/sex ed would be standard.

Thanks,

Jason

I just resent the same message again, as a second request.

Last week, I also sent an inquiry about the DARE program.  I received a message back from Tracy Stillwell-Emery, who wants me to call her.  But we seem to keep the same work hours, and she has not responded to emails, either.

I’ll update you as more information becomes available.