Published: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 1:09 AM CDT

The Yankton School District has formed a relationship with the Lewis and Clark Behavioral Health Center that provides a drug and alcohol counselor for the high school and middle school.

The school board announced the plan at its meeting on Monday.

The objective is to have the counselor hired in July, train the person in August and have the counselor be ready to start for the new school year.

One of the goals of the program is to “build a bridge” between the community, school and school district, and Lewis and Clark Behavioral Health Center to prevent and reduce the use of drugs and alcohol.

Superintendent Dr. Joseph Gertsema echoed a similar belief when he stated, “The program is building a bridge for our children’s future.”

The funding for the new position will be from the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Block Grant, which runs year-to-year. But the school board is optimistic the funding will be available for a number of years.

The program will also help in fostering educational programs and activities that will increase prevention and awareness of drugs and alcohol.

Members of the board noted the new hire will be an employee of the Lewis and Clark Behavioral Health Center and not the Yankton School District. The employee will work from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on days when school is in session and children are present.

Specific duties of the counselor include working with the students, both individually and in small groups; implementing classroom education curriculum; and conducting school prevention and education activities.

The counselor will also communicate with school staff and administrators, and present information about the program at faculty and departmental meetings.

The Yankton School District experienced a drastic increase in drugs and alcohol use last year, and officials hope this program will help put an end to that.

Other business taking place at the school board meeting included the elementary schools in the district changing the wording on their handbook— wording that Webster principal Melanie Ryken called “outdated.”

“We tried to make topics relevant to the kids in a way parents could understand it, too,” Ryken said.

Attendance policy at the elementary schools was also updated. The new policy will allow officials to show up at the home of a student unexcused from school in order to make sure the child is OK and accounted for.

The meeting also featured an updating of the Yankton High School electronics policy. The previous policy did not allow students to have their cell phones at any time while at school. The new policy allows students to have the phones with them, but the devices must be turned off. The high school is also going to allow more Kindles and E-Readers as long as they are in use for school-related work and only when they are allowed to be in use.

“We need to get on board with it, and this is the first step,” Dr. Wayne Kindle, principal of Yankton High School, said.

The next board meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. July 9 in the YSD administration building at 2410 West City Limits Road.

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