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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Schools, Police Acting On A Dare Successor

Gita Sitaramiah Staff writer

Here’s a bargain: The program that replaces DARE in Spokane schools costs less and includes more safety lessons.

The catch is that the 20 lessons that comprise TEAM, which stands for To Educate And Motivate, are spread out over nine years - from kindergarten to the eighth grade.

DARE, or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, was taught over 16 classes in during the sixth grade year.

And instead of one police unit of six officers teaching DARE throughout the city full time, TEAM duties will be shared by 28 patrol and neighborhood resource officers.

After the DARE program was cut from the city budget, school officials and police felt a hole was left.

“Not only a hole in presenting information to children, but a hole in relationships between cops and kids,” Spokane police Sgt. Mike Prim said. “We got directed to fill the hole with less money.”

School officials, police and parents worked together to create a new anti-drug and safety curriculum that would be about half the cost of the $550,000-a-year DARE program.

During the upcoming school year, DARE officers will help put the new program in motion and then the following year they’ll return to the streets as patrol officers.

The new Community Safety Education Program - or TEAM as it’s commonly called is designed to give officers a break from their regular duties to spend time with students in the classroom.

TEAM also allows students to come in contact with more police officers over the course of their school careers.

Putting uniformed officers in classrooms helps establish positive relationships between children and police, said Mary Brown, the school district’s student services supervisor.

“Whereas the DARE program was focused on drugs and alcohol, this one is safety prevention in a lot of different ways,” said Brown. “It’ll help kids be safe in school and in the community as well.”

The new program offers lessons on coping with bullies, bicycle safety, 911 as well as lessons on drugs, gangs, peer pressure and weapons in schools.

Brown thinks students and parents will come to value the new program.

“There was considerable grieving for the loss of the DARE program. It was a great program,” she said. “Over time, I think this one will be appreciated as much as the other.”

, DataTimes