Budget cuts and questions about effectiveness have led the Austin Police Department to discontinue the D.A.R.E. program at Ellis Middle School as of next year.

D.A.R.E., which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is a program for fifth graders to educate them about the dangers of substance abuse and teach them how to make healthy life decisions.

One elementary school official says the program works.

"The program is good, and I think the relationship with the police department is good, which is probably what we'll miss the most," said Neveln Elementary Principal Jean McDermott.

The program has been in Austin for about 15 years. A police officer helps fifth graders over a 17-week time period to discuss issues about drugs and alcohol and learn basic facts about the dangers. This year, it was pared down to 10 weeks. Officer John Lorenz is the D.A.R.E. officer for Austin schools.

Austin Police Chief Paul Philipp said that time doubles when you factor in the visits the officer makes to other grades for speeches. He said with budget restrictions and the department's plans to move to a 10-hour work day, it is not an effective use of an officer.

"We just felt that was too huge of a commitment," he said.

Philipp proposed eliminating the program about five years ago, he said.

"I wasn't convinced it was doing what we had hoped it would do," he said.

He talked with students then about the program. He said students in fifth, sixth and seventh grades are very excited about D.A.R.E., but in high school, it was a different story.

"As they got older, they felt it had less and less of an impact on them," he said.

McDermott thinks D.A.R.E. has been effective. She said besides seeing the positive effects in students at Neveln, she has seen her own children go through the program and thinks it was beneficial to them.

There is no backup program in place at Neveln to educate the students about drugs and alcohol, but McDermott said a new curriculum will be created this summer. She said the school will be able to replace the curriculum, formerly supplied by the police department, but she is more concerned about replacing the relationship between the students and the police department. She hopes the school can get some help with drug awareness education from the two liaison officers currently in the school system.

Philipp did suggest the use of those two officers in the classroom drug programs now that D.A.R.E. is going to be gone.

Philipp said one of the biggest frustrations with the program is that parents do not get involved enough.

"I think too many parents looked at the D.A.R.E. program as a one-time quick fix to solve the drug education issues for youth," he said.

He said he hopes parents can learn to better help their children avoid the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

"Parents and family play a far greater role than D.A.R.E. and the D.A.R.E. officer ever can," he said.

Matt Merritt can be reached at 434-2214 or by email at matt.merritt@austindailyherald.com