Loading...
2000-03-09 City of Southlake, Texas MEETING MINUTES Drug and Alcohol Awareness Committee Thursday, March 9, 2000 Members Present: Debra Edmondson (Co- Chairperson), Doug Strickland (Co- Chairperson), Rob Glover, Jacky Brooks - Lawrence, Margaret Melton, Jo Ponder, and Karen Lyman Members Absent: Gary Fawks, Brad Bartholomew, Sherri Brunson Ex- Officio Members Present: J.T. Tipton (S.A.D.D. Representative) Staff Present: Sean Leonard, Court Administrator, Dinah Chancellor- Math/Science Coordinator, Shelli Siemer - Assistant to the City Manager, Gary Gregg, Police Chief, Vickie Hess - Miller, Firefighter /Paramedic Guests Present: Andra Barton, Carroll Elementary School Principal Agenda Item No. 1. Call to Order Debra Edmondson called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.. Agenda Item No. 2. Public Forum There were no items presented by the public. Agenda Item No. 3. Administrative Comments There were no administrative comments. Agenda Item No. 4. Approval of Minutes from theJanuary 11,2000 meeting Doug Strickland made the motion to approve the minutes from the January 11, 2000 meeting. Jacky Lawrence seconded the motion. The motion passed with Rob Glover abstaining from the vote. Agenda Item No. 5. Consideration: Revision of Committee Bylaws Debra Edmondson stated that this item was discussed back at the November meeting where the committee suggested revising the Bylaws to amend the meeting schedule to eliminate regular meetings during the months of June, July, and December. Rob Glover made the motion to approve the revised Bylaws, and Doug Strickland seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Agenda Item No. 6. Discussion: Report on status of Every 15 Minutes program Vickie Hess - Miller reported on the status of the Every 15 Minutes program and she passed out draft schedules of the two -day event. She has been obtaining materials including, the grim reaper costume, and a moulage kit. Vickie reviewed the schedule and stated that it allows for the students selected as the living dead to be added to the schedule with their names and room numbers. Jacky Lawrence asked about the grade levels for the thirty participants because she believes freshmen and sophomores should be included in the living dead group. Vickie explained that the emphasis will be on the junior and seniors because it is a two -year program and the freshmen and sophomores will be involved in the program when it is completed again in two years. The freshmen and sophomores will be included in student assemblies to view the crash and the final assembly on the second day. J.T. asked when the 30 volunteers for the living dead would be notified of their involvement in the program. The volunteers will be selected on March 30. Drug & Alcohol Awareness Comm. Meeting Minutes 3/9/00 Page 2 Jacky Brooks Lawrence asked about how to communicate to the public about this item. There has been communication to the parents and there will be a meeting for the parents of the living dead students. Dinah Chancellor reported that there is information on the Every 15 Minutes in the district highlights, on the web -site, and the PTO newsletter. Rob Glover indicated the need to provide an additional mailing to the parents. Debra Edmondson thanked Vickie for her hard work on the program. Agenda Item No. 7. Discussion: Report on meeting with Belita Nelson, Starfish Foundation Doug Strickland, Rob Glover and Debra Edmondson met with Belita Nelson, founder of the Starfish foundation. The Starfish Foundation is a non - profit corporation founded by a group of parents, teachers and students in Plano, Texas in an attempt to fight teenage substance abuse. She speaks around the country and is the host of a radio program on KRLD at 7:00 p.m. on Sundays. She has personal experiences with her son who was a senior in high school and a great student who became hooked on heroin after one incident and is now recovering. Debra Edmondson suggested that we plan a forum in the fall with Belita Nelson as the speaker. She would conduct the program with students during the day and parents in the evening. Her program will draw an audience to the forum. The City and CISD budgeted funds for the committee, which should cover her $1000 speaking fee for the program. Debra Edmondson would like to see a sub - committee formed to put the program together. Rob Glover said we need to get a date as soon as possible. Shelli and Dinah will work with Julie on setting a date. The committee discussed the need to expand activities for the next year. Debra Edmondson suggested the idea of hosting a round table discussion with the police department to hear what is going on in the community. Rob Glover suggested including the counselors in the round table discussion and Jo Ponder suggested inviting the ministers and their staff to the meeting. A special invitation will go out to members in the community to attend the round table discussion including counselors, resource officers, DARE officers, PTO Presidents, and ministers and their staff. The discussion will be held during next month's meeting, which will help develop an action plan to focus on new goals and objectives. Having a map at the meeting with identification of the location of the heroin related cases in the area would help. Jacky Lawrence asked about distributing factual information to parents regarding current drug use among the youth. Debra Edmondson suggested some general statistics over the last year to bring it to the round table discussion. Gary Gregg will look at numbers. Agenda Item No. 8. Discussion: Distribution of Information Cards on Alcoholic Beverage Laws for Minors. Debra Edmondson reported that it is time to distribute the information cards on the alcoholic beverage laws for minors again. It can be done in connection with the Every 15 Minutes program. Jacky Lawrence thinks it should be completed right before graduation and suggested to have it on Friday, May 12. The committee agreed. Andra Barton volunteered the Carroll Elementary School volunteers to help distribute the cards. It will be completed before noon. Gary Gregg will order additional cards. Agenda Item No. 9. Discussion: Report on the appointment of a LCDC as an ex- officio member. Doug Strickland introduced Andra Barton the Principal at Carroll Elementary School who is an LCDC and will act as an ex- officio member to the committee. Andra explained her background to the committee. She graduated from Texas Tech with a degree in psychology and human development with Drug & Alcohol Awareness Comm. Meeting Minutes 3/9/00 Page 3 minor in substance abuse studies. She obtained her LCDC (which requires 15 hours of course work and then two years working as an intern) after working as a Juvenile Probation Officer in Waco. She went back to school to get her education degree with the emphasis in school administration. It is very difficult to find a combination of counselor and LCDC together. Andra would love to be a part of the committee. Agenda Item No. 10. Discussion: Report on pursuing CISD Athletic Department involvement. Doug Strickland reported that this idea surfaced with Bob Hamilton's idea to bring a professional athlete to speak to the kids about substance abuse. Unfortunately Bob has resigned from the committee. The committee agreed to wait on implementing this program because there are other programs being implemented including the Every 15 Minutes program, the forum and the round table discussion. Agenda Item No. 11. Discussion: Sub - Committee Reports • CISD Curriculum sub - committee — Dinah Chancellor discussed the American Drug & Alcohol Survey and how it is constructed. She passed out a sample of the survey instrument, and copies of the "Sobering Facts" newsletter. The survey has repetitious questions that monitor truthful and untruthful responses. This is the third year to administer the survey. An analysis of the survey results and another "Sobering Facts" newsletter will be completed again this year. Dinah also distributed Region XI newsletters, which are distributed to the elementary, middle, junior high and high schools, who in turn, send them to parents. • Parent/Networking sub - committee — Karen Lyman is resurrecting the sub - committee and is trying to get two members per campus. The goal is to get an issue of the Parenting Newsletter out at the end of April, which will become a quarterly publication. The newsletter will include information from public safety, counselors, and other experts to explain what is going on in the community. The first issue will highlight the Every 15 Minutes programs. Agenda Item No. 12 Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Submitted by: Shelli Siemer, City of Southlake Approved: 01 ice... Debra Edmon son,i o- Chairperson Doug Stric Sand, Co- Chairperson