Drug prevention education expands in Charles City as DARE returns to local schools

CHARLES CITY COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- The Charles City County Elementary School will soon re-introduce a program focused on drug prevention and awareness for the 2025-26 academic year.

According to a release from the sheriff's office, the program, DARE --- Drug Abuse Resistance Education program -- will come to the elementary school for the upcoming school year.

SRO Corporal Tramayne Mayo, who developed a curriculum to teach the PROGRAM, reportedly attended a two-week training course as required by DARE to instruct.

“We are excited to get this program back into our school system," said Jayson Crawley, Sheriff of Charles City County. “We feel that early education of the dangers of drugs should be taught to our youths and can have a significant positive impact on the decisions they make when faced with drugs. This is just part of our continued efforts to deter illegal drug activity in our county."

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Opioid settlement money awarded to all jurisdictions in the Commonwealth from a reported lawsuit filed against prescription drug companies will help fund the program, per the sheriff's office.

8News previously reported that, in June, Virginia joined all other states and some U.S. territories in agreeing to sign a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family who own the company for their part in perpetuating the opioid crisis.

As a result, the state will receive as much as $103.8 million from this settlement over the next 15 years -- funding which will go toward local prevention, treatment and recovery efforts, as previously reported by 8News.