• 46°
franklin county times

County DARE program in jeopardy

By Staff
Melissa Cason
Cutbacks in the Franklin County Sheriff's Department could spell disaster for the county's Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program.
Franklin County Sheriff Larry Plott said the program's mortality could be judged sooner rather than later, adding there is a chance the program won't even make it to the end of the school year.
"We cannot afford to fund the program because of a cutback in deputies, but we are trying to partner with the school systems to get this program funded," Plott said.
Plott added that even though DARE is a worthwhile effort in our county, he cannot leave Franklin County's residents unprotected to run it.
"They [the county commission] cut the number of deputies so that we can staff the new jail when the budget was passed," Plott said.
Plott feels the only way to keep the DARE program alive in this county is to partner with the school system. However, Franklin County Superintendent Bill Moss and Russellville Superintendent Dr. Wayne Ray don't know if they will have the money to continue the program either.
"We think it's a great program but there is no funds in the state budget for it," Ray said.
He added that the program has been very successful in their school system, and that if they had the resources, he would not object to funding it.
Moss feels the same way, but budgets have already been passed for this fiscal year, and no money was allocated for DARE because they were not aware that there was a funding problem.
Moss said that he was told that it cost about $36,000 per year to fund the DARE program. He said the two school systems would have to work together to fund the program.
"We can't fund it all by ourselves," Moss said. "We have very limited resources and cannot afford to fund the whole thing alone."
Ray and Moss both agreed that the program is worth saving, but neither of them know if they are the ones who can do the saving at this point.

Franklin County

PROGRESS 2024: Veteran Spotlight – Mousey Brown

News

Russellville First Baptist Church receives historical marker

Franklin County

PROGRESS 2024: Meeting a higher standard – Russellville High School JROTC

News

RCS BOE announces new superintendent  

News

Miss Dream Girl Pageant names winners

Franklin County

First Metro Bank hosts FAME Girls’ Ranch donation drive

News

PCHS holds annual Shelby Grissom Memorial Fashion Show

Franklin County

PROGRESS 2024: VFW Post 5184 – ‘No One Does More For Veterans’

Features

Supporting students’ futures

Features

Red Bay Garden Club discusses amaryllis planting

Franklin County

UA announces local students for fall 2023 President’s, Dean’s, graduation lists

News

School news

Franklin County

PROGRESS 2024: Veteran Spotlight – Troy Oliver

Franklin County

Appropriations bill passes, allots more than $3 million for new Russellville library/multipurpose center 

Franklin County

Franklin County Cattlemen’s Association names Cattleman of the Year 

Franklin County

Franklin County votes: Unofficial March 5 primary election results 

Franklin County

Funding for new Russellville library, multipurpose community center expected this week

Features

Faces of Franklin County: BTCPA

News

GFWC Russellville Book Lovers Club sponsors downtown art crawl

Franklin County

PROGRESS 2024: Veteran Spotlight – Cody Bragwell

Franklin County

42nd annual Miss RHS pageant names winners 

News

Miss RHS pageant takes place Friday

Franklin County

Political announcement: David Hester speaks about run for reelection as county commissioner

Franklin County

BTCPA auditions for final production of season take place March 3-4 

x