Socorro schools will have a new tobacco, alcohol and vaping prevention program this year.

The Socorro Consolidated School District Board approved the new Botvin curriculum for use at Sarracino Middle School during their regular Board meeting Monday.

The curriculum has been purchased by SCOPE Health Council with drug free communities grant funding. The drug free communities grant coordinator Bernadette Lopez came before the Board to ask them to approve the curriculum. She explained that the curriculum is recommended by the Department of Health and is much different from previous DARE programs. It begins with a focus on self-image, mental health and healthy decision making.

Lopez and her assistant coordinator will be teaching the 40 to 60 minute lessons every other week to Sarracino seventh graders during their home room period. The schedule should allow them to finish teaching all 15 lessons in March. Then they will conduct a second youth summit for the middle schoolers. The first youth summit took place at the end of the 2022 spring semester.

Lopez hopes to teach the curriculum in Magdalena and Cottonwood this school year as well.

In other business:

  • The Socorro School District has a significant number of new staff members this year, including a new head administrator at Cottonwood Charter School, a new principal at San Antonio Elementary, a new director for special education and a new athletic director.
  • The school district is spending $50,000 for window films for all of its schools. The window films make it difficult to break open or shoot out a window.

The next regular school board meeting will be Monday, August 22 at the district’s Central Office.

Cathy Cook | El Defensor Chieftain Editor