Texas teachers accused of giving sleep aids to pre-K students

Elementary school administrators in Houston placed two teachers on leave after reports that preschool students were receiving melatonin-infused stickers at naptime without parental permission. The staff members allegedly involved were immediately placed on leave and both police and administrators launched investigations, according to Spring Independent School District Superintendent Lupita Hinojosa. Reports of a teacher giving students any form of medication is deeply troubling and unacceptable, Hinojosa said in a statement to parents obtained by WORLD. The district offered its sincerest apology and said preventative steps would be taken to avoid such misconduct in the future, the superintendent added.

How did parents find out the stickers were medicated? One mother, Lisa Luviano, told local news outlet KTRK that about a month after school started, her daughter brought home what she called a “sleeping sticker.” Luviano told other parents to question their children, and found that other preschoolers were getting similar stickers for naptime. Parents complained that the melatonin harmed their children’s sleep schedules and blamed them for their children’s inability to fall asleep at night.

How is the wider community responding? Texas Gov. Greg Abbott used the incident as support for his ongoing push for school vouchers. No parent should be forced to send their child to a school that medicates children without parents knowing, he wrote online. Texas must empower parents to choose the school best for their child, he added. The Texas Education Agency declined to comment on the situation, referring all questions to the school district.