The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) Act of 1986 provides funding to school districts to supplement local efforts to eliminate drug and alcohol use by their students. In 1995-96, its ninth year of funding, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) (Texas) received $363,720 from the SDFSC grant plus a sum carried over from 1994-95. SDFSC monies fund a wide assortment of district programs. Three types of programs were funded during the 1995-96 school year: student programs, programs for curriculum and staff development, and support staff and services. The student programs included Drug Abuse Resistance Education (the DARE program), a peer assistance and leadership program, support for some private schools, and a student retreat program. Overall, AISD students appear to have increasing patterns of self-reported recent and lifetime alcohol, tobacco, and other illegal drug use since 1991-92, the first year for which data were available. Over 67% of secondary school students reported that they had received information on drugs or alcohol from a school source during 1995-96, but many students did not believe that these substances were dangerous. The effects of substance abuse education and prevention lessen with each subsequent year after student participation. Less than half of the students thought that their school campuses were safe, and over one-third reported that they had been physically harmed or threatened at school by another student. Recommendations for program improvement call for more complete implementation of SDFSC programs and the development of programs to ensure the safety of students in AISD schools. Attachments include excerpts from related legislation and regulations and the AISD drug and alcohol education and prevention plan. (Contains 20 figures, 16 attachment graphs, and 14 references.) (SLD)