Local News in Brief : Schools Plan Follow-up on Widened Drug Abuse Effort

The Glendale Board of Education on Tuesday voted to establish an advisory committee to monitor the progress of the district’s year-old expanded drug-abuse prevention program.

The committee, to be made up of district and community representatives, is being formed to ensure that schools work with community groups and use outside resources to warn schoolchildren about drug abuse, district spokesman Vic Palos said.

Substance-abuse prevention has long been part of 7th- and 10th-grade curriculums in Glendale schools, officials said.

However, last year the board voted to establish a more comprehensive program to warn students in all grades about drug abuse.

The committee is expected to meet for the first time later this month and throughout the coming year. Until now, the implementation of the district’s substance-abuse prevention program has been monitored by the district’s staff.