By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
A program linking the resources of the Racine County Sheriff’s Department with local high schools is moving forward as officials attempt to stem the tide of such drug epidemics as heroin use.
Last month, the school boards overseeing Waterford and Union Grove high schools voted to move forward in adopting First Step. The preventative program is aimed at providing tools to parents, community members and students who are facing drug addiction.
The Union Grove board voted unanimously in favor of implementing the program Dec. 15, and the Waterford board followed suit with its unanimous vote Dec. 17.
Captain James Weidner of the Sheriff’s Office said the agency will provide the high schools with drug-testing kits and a packet of information about drug treatment options and prevention.
Speaking in November at the Waterford Union High School board monthly meeting, Weidner said the First Step program is an outgrowth of the high interest in the series of heroin drug summits that were held early this year in the area.
“What we’re looking to do is take away the barriers,” Weidner commented. “The schools really are the hub of our community.”
The kit itself contains a screening device with test strips and a collection swab. Testing a person’s saliva should provide information on whether or not he or she has used drugs recently.
The information packet contains information on Racine County clinics that specialize in behavioral health services, an explanation of different drugs and how they commonly appear and a compilation of area inpatient and outpatient substance abuse centers.
Additionally, the packet contains suggestions on what parents can say to their children about drugs and the dangers of abuse.
To obtain the packet of information and drug-testing kit, parents do not need to have a student enrolled at either of the high schools. The process, Weidner said, is done anonymously. School staff members will not ask for names or contact information.
Keith Brandstetter and Al Mollerskov, superintendents of Waterford and Union Grove high schools, respectively, said their facilities are not directly involved in First Step. They described both high schools as distribution points.
Final plans — including when the materials will be available for distribution — are still being finalized. In Waterford, the materials likely will be offered at the district office, while Union Grove plans to have the resources at the nurse’s office.
The response from administrators and board members to the county sheriff’s overture has been positive.
“This is something that can be done to combat peer pressure,” Mollerskov commented. “If a student knows he might be tested because of strange behavior, (drug use) might not happen in the first place. This is something that can be of help.”
Mollerskov said the use of heroin and other drugs are issues that have come up periodically during parent meetings about Union Grove’s athletics programs.
Dan Foster, principal at WUHS, offered a similar sentiment about First Step when the proposal was first discussed in November.
“Really, our end goal is to get the resources to the people who need them,” Foster said.
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