Many Texas elementary school employees are under investigation after allegedly receiving outside help regarding nap times. This comes after parents accused two teachers of putting sleep aid stickers on their preschoolers on September 24.
Northgate Crossing Elementary School confirm KHOU11 that they immediately pulled two teachers out of class after receiving the complaint. Additionally, two paraprofessionals working in the same classroom are also on leave as a “precautionary measure,” according to Spring Independent School District (SISD).
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How Schools and Districts Learned about the Sleep Patch
So let’s get into what happened. In September, the child was four years old Layne Luviano took one of the supposed sleep aid patches home. Her mother, Lisa, peeked at the sticker but found it suspicious. When she asked Layne about it, the child said: “The teacher let me use it to sleep.” In response, Lisa started doing some online research. Finally, according to KHOU11, Lisa discovered that Amazon sells stickers, which turn out to be sleep aids.
Lisa told the newspaper that she reported the sleep patch to the school the next day. Two weeks later, nothing is said to have happened, including any notification by parents. So Lisa started contacting parents themselves with a mass text message, according to ABC13.
Soon after, another mother, Melissa Gilford, showed the sticker to her four-year-old daughter. Layne and Melissa’s daughter is in the same class. “Yes, that’s the sleepy sticker,” The child is said to have responded.
Melissa told KHOU11 that the sticker is ‘Sleep ZPatch’ made by the company Klova. However, sleep aids are intended for use by adults and contain melatonin, along with other ingredients, to encourage sleep.
What happens next?
On Wednesday (October 9), Spring ISD confirmed to KHOU11 that the Spring ISD Police Department is investigating the incident. “The District takes all allegations of educator misconduct seriously and will take all necessary measures to ensure that our students are educated in a safe and nurturing environment, ” the emailed statement said.
In a follow-up email to the agency, Spring ISD also shared that administering the sleep patch would violate their Board of Directors Policy FFAC. That policy is as follows:
“No employee shall provide any student with prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, herbal substances, anabolic steroids or dietary supplements of any kind, unless authorized by this policy or other District policy.”
Neither the Texas school district nor Northgate Crossing released the names, ages or work histories of the four employees involved. It’s unclear how long the teachers allegedly gave the students the sleep aid patches. However, Spring ISD officials reportedly asked parents not to discuss the allegations on Tuesday (Oct. 8) to avoid derailing the investigation.
About sleep aids, children and caregivers. Earlier this year, a former daycare director in Indiana was sentenced to prison and probation for giving children melatonin without their parents’ consent.
RELATED: Former Indiana Daycare Director convicted of giving melatonin to children without parental consent
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