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Safe and Drug-Free Schools


Project Director

Linda Booth  Phone: (850) 638-6131 extension 2278

Project Services

PAEC's Safe and Drug-Free Schools Project works with member districts on a contract basis. We presently serve Calhoun, Franklin, Jackson, and Liberty School Districts by providing staff development in topics related to improving schools safety and creating an enriched atmosphere for learning. We also assist them in writing their annual project applications and reports, providing program follow up and evaluation, and conducting needs assessments when needed.

At a minimum, each district must implement developmentally appropriate education and prevention programs that address the legal, social, and health consequences of alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) use and violence. PAEC's main objective is to assist its contracted districts in implementing programs that, through rigorous research, have been proven effective. Some of the proven-effective programs presently in the contracted districts are as follows:
  • Life Skills Training (drug, alcohol and tobacco prevention)
  • PeaceBuilders (violence prevention)
  • Project TNT (Towards No Tobacco)
  • Too Good for Drugs
  • Too Good for Violence
  • Too Good for Drugs and Violence After-School Program
PAEC assists their contracted districts in maintaining program fidelity through yearly follow-up surveys and periodic, in-depth program evaluations and needs assessments.

PAEC also assists with the oversight of the Character First! character education program in Calhoun and Jackson Districts.

District projects include a variety of strategies including, but not limited to classroom instruction, student assistance programs, peer-based programs, conflict resolution, peer mediation, staff development, service learning and parent involvement.

Some of the achievements with which PAEC has assisted contracted districts in the last few years are as follows:
  • Developing a crisis management plan for Jackson District Schools and offering it as a prototype to PAEC member districts
  • Developing a character education curriculum for Gulf County and providing make-and-take workshops in the curriculum for teachers
  • Providing contracted districts with staff development on topics such and conflict resolution, bullying, ATOD prevention/intervention, student assistance programs, risk and resiliency and classroom management
  • Evaluating and supplying written reports for districts on their implementation processes of following the programs: Health Promotion Wave, Character First, Life Skills Training, and PeaceBuilders

Notes to Parents to Help Keep Teens Drug-Free
  • Be Aware: Teens become more accepting of marijuana use when they transition from middle school to high school. Drug use usually increases between 7th and 8th grades, 8th and 9th grades, and 9th and 10th grades.
  • Know Your Teens' Friends: Most teens between the ages of 12 and 17 who smoke marijuana report getting it from their friends. Hanging around users of marijuana usually exposes kids to other drugs, trouble at school and problems with the law.
  • Teach Teens To Reject Peer Pressure: Young people who learn about the risks of drugs at home are 50 percent less likely to try drugs than their peers who don't get drug information from their parents. Discuss your family's "no drug use" policy and make your position clear when it comes to substances like alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
  • Eat Together: Mealtime is a great time to talk about what happened at school and bond with each other. Studies show that kids whose families eat together at least 5 times a week are less likely to be involved with drugs or alcohol.
  • Look For Warning Signs: Among the signs, acting distant around family and friends, hanging around a different crowd, change in mood or attitudes and declining grades. Students with a "D" average are five times more likely to have used illicit drugs in the past month than those with an "A" average.
  • Be A Good Listener And Stay Involved: Ask your child for input on family decisions. This will show a willingness to listen and will encourage your teen to open up to you. Help your teen with homework assignments or projects and recognize their accomplishments.
(Information for this article came from www.theantidrug.com)

SDFS-related Links:

Click here to access the Florida Safe and Drug-Free Schools technical assistance website and see what Florida school districts are doing to enhance school safety and create drug-free learning environments.

FCAT Practice Materials Using Prevention Concepts
(http://www.firn.edu/doe/besss/fcat_materials.htm) - Includes FCAT-formatted practice questions in math, science, reading and writing at various academic levels using the drug-prevention areas alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. These materials are not only good for FCAT practice, but can be used by any educator to invoke thoughtful, academic classroom discussion and, at the same time, enhance student drug prevention education.

Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey
www.dcf.state.fl.us/mentalhealth/publications/fysas: Begun in the spring of 2000, The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS) is a collaborative effort between the Florida departments of Health, Education, Juvenile Justice, Children and Families, and the Governor's Office of Drug Control. It is based on the Communities That Care survey, and assesses risk and protective factors for substance abuse in addition to substance abuse prevalence. It is administered to Florida's middle and high school students annually. In the spring of even years, the survey is administered simultaneously with the FYSAS, sampling enough students to generate data applicable at the county and Department of Children and Families district level. In odd years the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey are also added. All surveys are administered to a sampling of students in each of the state's school districts.

The School Environmental Safety Incident Report (SESIR) is a collection of data on 21 incidents of crime, violence, and disruptive behaviors that occur on school grounds, on school transportation, and at off-campus, school-sponsored events, during any 24-hour period, 365 days per year. Incidents are reported by schools to the districts which, in turn, provide the data to the DOE. The annual SESIR report includes:
  • A state-wide analysis of the SESIR and school discipline data
  • State-wide data totals and trends
  • Individual district totals and trends

SESIR and Discipline Data Statewide and by School District

SESIR: Definition Guidelines
(www.firn.edu/doe/besss/sesir/0001pdf/0001definitions.pdf)-includes a listing of the 21 incidents of crime, violence and disruption with definitions and examples.

School Environmental Safety Incident Reporting System Training Program
(gsep.pepperdine.edu/~dleigh/SESIR)

PAEC is constantly looking for ways to help their contracted districts to enhance and improve their present SDFS programs and help those districts provide the safest school environment possible in order to ensure successful student learning.