Richland County school districts have drug programs in place at schools to help prevent student drug abuse. Three schools in Richland County shared the statuses on their programs. Overall, drug activity is being suppressed in our county. Here is how.
Ontario Schools released an annual report on the Ontario Substance Abuse Program’s (OSAP) progress for the 2012-2013 school year. It contains statistics on results of the OSAP initiative. Some examples include the total number of adults and children reached through different programs like assemblies, CACY retreats, Trader Card Program, No Use, Inc., and SADD. The total number of adults reached from July 2009 through June 2013 is 32,645. The total number of children reached from July 2009 through June 2013 was 1,860.
Recently, in 2011, OSAP joined the social media realm through Facebook. “Our first event invitation in October 2011 reached 212 different individuals. By January 2012, we were able to reach 1,244 individuals. As of June 2013, we have reached 31,798. We will continue to look for ways to improve upon and use this resource in our awareness efforts,” said Veronica Cain, OSAP Coordinator.
Clear Fork valley local schools is currently designing a program for their district that will include programs that are similar to Ontario’s. They approved the plan in their July 9 board meeting. Discussions included the development of a Building Level Plan for grades K-12 for Drug Prevention Intervention, which includes improving the in place SADD program. The high school is considering implementing a mentorship-style program where high school students teach lessons on drug prevention. Also, an assembly is being arranged for the whole district, which will focus on Positive Decision Making.
Matthew Dill, Superintendent of Clear Fork Valley Local School district said, “We currently have great relationships with our students, staff, community, and public safety officials to help screen for drugs within our schools.”
The board also hired a Drug Prevention Resource Officer for Clear Fork schools.
Shelby was another school district to share their drug policies. Superintendent Tim Tarvin said, “We have a zero tolerance policy for alcohol, drugs and tobacco. We also have a zero tolerance policy for bullying. We take both of these stances very seriously.”
The Shelby Local School district is involved with the CACY program, but does not have a drug screening program for athletes.
Schools in Ohio are not mandated by the state’s government to implement drug prevention programs. All programs are funded by independent donations and grants on a local governmental level.