A Texas mother has spoken of her outrage after her child’s kindergarten teacher was reportedly caught slipping gummies to special needs students.
The mother, who asked not to be identified, told ABC 13 that she learned about what she described as a “breach of trust” through the principal at her five-year-old’s school in Humble.
The woman said she had previously noticed her son, who is nonverbal, was lethargic after his school day
“We noticed on three different occasions when he came home he was completely lethargic, stumbling to get off the bus. It’s a breach of trust,” the concerned mother told the outlet.
She also said that the teacher had previously called her to ask what she did at home to calm her son down, and whether she gave him gummy vitamins — but the woman said it never crossed her mind that the teacher was giving her son gummies without her permission.
“She called me a few times asking, ‘What do you do at home? What do you suggest to calm him down?’” the woman recounted. “He’s very active, and we sometimes have a hard time getting him to focus back on the task at hand.”
The Humble school district said that the teacher has since resigned and an investigation is underway.
No charges have been filed yet.
“The district took immediate action to launch an investigation. Our investigation found that the teacher did give out melatonin, acting on her own and without obtaining parent permission,” the district told ABC in a statement. “The teacher did not notify campus administration nor the nurse.”
Melatonin gummies are supplements that help with sleeping. They’re widely available over the counter for adults and children.
A study by the CDC reports that two infants died from melatonin overdoses between 2012 and 2021. About 4,000 children were hospitalised after overdosing on melatonin during that time period.
