Parents accuse school employees of giving students 'sleep aid' stickers
An investigation is underway at a Texas elementary school after preschool teachers allegedly distributed stickers to students that are believed to be sleeping aids.
Lisa Luviano, the mom of a 4-year-old student at Northgate Crossing Elementary School in Spring, Texas, told ABC News station KTRK-TV that her daughter came home from school with a sticker featuring a starry-night like design.
"She said, 'It's a sleeping sticker,' and I asked her, 'Where do you get this?,'" Luviano told KTRK. "She's like, 'Well, my teacher gives it to me for sleeping time.'"
Luviano said after hearing her daughter's response, "I had straight anxiety just thinking about what's going on with the school."
Luviano said she believes the sticker placed on her daughter was melatonin, a hormone that plays a role in sleep, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The day after the conversation with her daughter, Luviano said she went to the school to report the sticker. She told KTRK she believes her concerns were not immediately addressed.
"They said they were going to keep up with us, that they're here for us," Luviano said. "Two days later ... the teacher's still there."
ABC News obtained an email that parents of Northgate Crossing Elementary students say the school's superintendent sent out saying that the two teachers and two paraprofessionals involved were removed from the classroom. According to the email, the employees were placed on administrative leave as police investigate the allegations.
"The news that a teacher allegedly gave a student melatonin is deeply troubling and absolutely unacceptable," the email stated. "Under no circumstances should any staff member ever administer medication to a student without proper procedures in place."
No charges have been filed against school employees.
Luviano told KTRK the alleged incident is "unacceptable."
"We send our kids to school knowing that our kids are going to be safe here. We trust our teachers," she said. "For that to happen. That's unacceptable."
