Two teachers have been suspended from a Texas elementary school after allegedly giving students special “stickers” to make them sleep.
According to the Spring Independent School District, the incident occurred on September 24, and the teachers involved were “immediately removed from the classroom,” pending a police investigation.
“Northgate Elementary administration was notified by a parent that their child was given a sleeping aid patch in the classroom by their teacher,” a statement shared with The Independent read.
“Upon learning of the allegation the teachers in that classroom were immediately removed and placed on administrative leave.” The district added that “as a precautionary measure,” two paraprofessionals in the classroom had also been placed on administrative leave.
“The safety of our students is our highest priority, and we take every allegation of misconduct seriously,” the statement added.
However, angry parents at the school claim they were only formally notified by the school about the investigation two weeks after the alleged incident occurred.
Speaking to ABC Houston, Lisa Luviano said her daughter had come home from school and shown her a “sticker” with images of a moon, stars and clouds on it.
“She said, ‘It is a sleeping sticker,’” she told the outlet. “I asked, ‘Where did you get this?’ And she said, ‘My teacher gives it to me for sleeping time. “The next day, we went to the school. We brought the evidence up there, and we filed a report. We did say we wanted to file criminal charges if this is something that is true.”
Luviano said she had texted other parents at the school about the incident. Najla Abdullah asked her four-year-old son if he too had received a sticker.
“He said, ‘Yes, mommy. I get a special sticker,’” Abdullah told ABC. “I said, ‘What does it look like?’ He said, ‘I get it right here on my hand, and it has the storms with the clouds and the star and the moon.’”
Both parents said that after coming home from school, their children struggle to sleep.
The SISD has not identified the teachers involved but said that the alleged behavior had violated its Board Policy FFAC.
The policy states that “no employee shall give any student prescription medication, nonprescription medication, herbal substances, anabolic steroids, or dietary supplements of any type, except as authorized by this or other District policy.”
Parents are now questioning how long the alleged distribution of sleeping stickers went on for and whether any else has been given to their children.
“My trust was broken by this teacher. We opened our hearts to,” Luviano told ABC.
