Pueblo D60: City councilor's claim of girl ‘stabbed’ by needle at school has 'no validity'

Pueblo School District 60 is refuting a Pueblo city councilor’s claim that a district student was “stabbed” by a dirty needle on school property and that district staff frequently sweep the perimeter of Bradford Elementary School for discarded syringes.

Joe Latino, a city councilman representing neighborhoods in east Pueblo, claimed during Monday's city council work session that Pueblo D60 staff sweep Bradford Elementary every morning and afternoon because of drug paraphernalia.

His claim came after Access Point Pueblo delivered a presentation about its needle exchange program and before council's vote to ban those programs from operating in the city.

Bradford Elementary is located on the East Side. It is more than 2 miles away from any Pueblo needle exchange program.

“Why do we have to sweep the elementary school on the East Side called Bradford Elementary every single morning and every single afternoon because there are used needles on the campus where children are?” said Latino, who was visibly frustrated. “We had a child, a young woman, a little girl stabbed with a needle.”

A member of the crowd appeared to dispute Latino’s claim before the city councilor said, “It is proved.”

Dalton Sprouse, director of communications for Pueblo D60, told the Chieftain that Bradford Elementary Principal Michelle Padilla told district parents that Latino’s claim has “no validity.”

“It certainly caught our attention because it was false information,” Sprouse said. “Whenever there’s something like that that’s not affecting the whole school, we try to address those one-on-one with parents.”

When reached by phone, Latino said he would not discuss the matter and declined to take any questions regarding his claim.

“I will not be talking about that,” Latino said.

Pueblo D60 staff does sweep the perimeter of its schools before the start of each school day looking for any unwanted trash or drug paraphernalia to “keep a safe environment for our kids,” Sprouse said. But staffers have not found “dozens of needles” and “nobody’s been poked,” he said.

Latino’s claim evoked immediate concern among many Pueblo parents, some of whom shared it on social media. Padilla spoke with some of the parents about their concerns and assured them that “no student has been poked by a sharp” and “there are not dozens of needles littering the school grounds,” Sprouse said.

Pueblo's needle exchange programs have been a hot topic among residents over the past few years. Some residents at city council meetings over that time have attested to their benefits in reducing the spread of diseases.

Some local elected officials, including Councilor Roger Gomez and Pueblo County Commissioner Eppie Griego, have said they believe the programs "enable" drug use. Gomez introduced the city ordinance to ban the programs.

Latino appeared to use his claim as part of his reasoning for voting to ban needle exchange programs from operating in the city. He was one of five councilors to approve the ban, which sparked intense backlash and little support from Pueblo residents before and during last week's meeting.

“When we’re picking up needles and I have children being affected by this, I gotta tell you something, and I’m gonna be very candid about it right now — when we make a vote, I want needles out of Pueblo,” Latino said during the work session.

While Latino declined to comment on his unfounded claim, he did say the ban on needle exchanges is a “great thing for this community.”

Latino, who grew up in the Belmont neighborhood, has been vocal about his desire to support Pueblo’s youth during his brief time on council.

In November, he was elected as Larry Atencio’s successor to represent District 2. He started his four-year term as councilor in January.

Chieftain reporter Josué Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @josuepwrites. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo D60 refutes Latino's claim of needle poke at Bradford Elementary