Despite Objections, Drug Intervention Consultant to Continue at Dana

The city of Dana Point will continue to provide a drug "intervention  consultant” at Dana Hills High despite two Capistrano Unified school board objections that the city employee isn’t qualified and isn’t accountable to school officials.

Trustee Jim Reardon said it was inappropriate for a non-CUSD employee provide help to the neediest students.

“If we have a problem on that campus, it should be addressed by the school district, not the city manager of Dana Point,” Reardon said. “ … The city of Dana Point is not a mental health provider.”

The city has provided the position since 2009, according to a schools staff report. It is filled by former Capo Unified trustee Mike Darnold, who retired from the board in 2008 who is active in the San Juan Capistrano Rotary Club.

The staff report included the following statistics from the 2012-13 school year:

• 297 students sought out assistance from the intervention consultant
• 106 of those were referred to outside intervention resources for concerns about alcohol or drugs
  
• 43 were referred to counseling, medical, therapeutic, residential or clinical treatment
  
• 29 were supported through Alcoholics Anonymous or similar groups
  

“We need a professional,” Reardon said. Unfortunately, Darnold – who was not mentioned by name – is not one and “does not meet the standards that the district has usually set.”

Trustee Ellen Addonizio joined Reardon in questioning the position. But other trustees, notably Amy Hanacek and Lynn Hatton, said the agreement with the city of Dana Point is just the kind of community partnership the district is always seeking.

“This is, for lack of a better word, looking a gift horse in the mouth,” Hanacek said, adding that teens often just need another adult to talk to and don’t always feel comfortable approaching teachers. She criticized Reardon for seeing things too much in “black and white.”

Hatton agreed: “We can’t do this alone, and we don’t want to be in the business of putting up barriers to students.”

The new agreement with the city of Dana Point was approved 4-2, with Addonizio and Reardon in dissent and Trustee Anna Bryson absent.