SPRING, Texas (CITC) — Multiple employees of a Texas elementary school are under investigation after students were allegedly given sleeping aid patches in class.
The investigation was sparked after a parent notified Northgate Cross Elementary School administration her child was given one of the patches. Lisa Luviano told KHOU 11 her 4-year-old daughter snuck one home, explaining to her mom “the sticker makes me fall asleep.”
Luviano reportedly researched the patch and learned it was a Sleep ZPatch. Such patches contain various ingredients, including melatonin and ashwagandha, and are not recommended for children.
Luviano then alerted other parents of her findings, with multiple confirming their children also received the patches, according to KHOU 11. Some reportedly said their children had recently begun to exhibit out-of-character behavior, including inability to sleep at night.
“Every night, my son will come home. He’s staying up. He’s not sleeping,” parent Najla Abdullah told KHOU 11.
“I just felt bad because all of the things she was going through made sense,” Luviano reportedly said of her daughter.
The Spring Independent School District (Spring ISD) told Crisis in the Classroom (CITC) the teachers in the Northgate classroom were “immediately removed” and placed on administrative leave following the allegations. The district said two paraprofessionals in the classroom have also been placed on leave as a “precautionary measure.”
The matter is being investigated by the Spring ISD Police Department. Spring ISD school board policy states employees cannot “give any student prescription medication, nonprescription medication, herbal substances, anabolic steroids, or dietary supplements of any type” without authorization from the district.
READ MORE | ‘Purple candy’? Daycares, schools face parent outrage over incidents involving drugs and supplements
“The safety of our students is our highest priority, and we take every allegation of misconduct seriously,” a district spokesperson told CITC. “We ask for our community’s patience as the SISD Police Department conducts their investigation.”
This is not the first time Spring ISD has faced such allegations. In December, the district investigated a teacher at its International School at Salyers for allegedly giving second-graders melatonin gummies without parental consent.
Last October, a kindergarten teacher at the nearby Humble Independent School District resigned over a similar incident, KPRC-TV reported. The teacher allegedly administered melatonin gummies to special education students both without parental consent and without alerting school nurses.
Have something for the Crisis in the Classroom team to investigate? Call or text the national tip line at 202-417-7273.