Two Teachers in Texas Have Been Accused of Giving Kids Sleep Aid Patches
"It took them two weeks, and now they are finally saying something. All the parents are here. We want answers."
Published Oct. 10 2024, 1:29 p.m. ET
A small community in Texas has been rocked by allegations lodged against two elementary school teachers. The Spring Independent School District (Spring ISD) in Harris County suspended two of their own after parents accused them of administering a sleep aid to their children.
According to ABC13 Houston, these parents were made aware of a possible problem after their children described a specific sticker in a pretty alarming way. When one child mentioned something called a "sleeping sticker," her parents contacted the school immediately. Here's what we know.
Two teachers have been caught giving kids a "sleep sticker."
Lisa Luviano told ABC13 Houston that it wasn't out of the norm for her daughter Lane to come home from Northgate Crossing Elementary School with tons of things to show her. On Sept. 24, 2024, Lisa's daughter showed her a sticker with stars and a crescent moon on it, and referred to it as her "sleeping sticker." When Lisa asked where she got it, her daughter said, "My teacher gives it to me for sleeping time."
Unfortunately, Lane revealed that other kids were also getting the sleeping sticker. With this in mind, Lisa went to the school the following day in order to report what was going on. With the sticker in hand, Lisa said they planned on filing criminal charges if any wrongdoing was happening.
After two weeks went by with no updates from the school, Lisa sent out a mass text to other parents.
Najla Abdullah read the text and promptly spoke with her 4-year-old son about it. She mentioned a "special sticker" to which he said, "Yes, mommy. I get a special sticker."
When asked to describe it, he said, "I get it right here on my hand, and it has the storms with the clouds and the star and the moon." Abdullah and a slew of other parents relayed this to the school and contacted Child Protective Services.
Some parents said their children were having trouble sleeping at night.
"Every night, my son will come home. He's staying up. He's not sleeping," said Abdullah to the outlet. Luviano said her daughter was also having trouble sleeping.
Lane's dad said that he would often her up at 2 o'clock in the morning. He would go into her room, only to discover Lane was wide awake.
Another parent, Melissa Gilford, did some research and found that the "sleeping sticker" was actually a Zleep Sleep Patch, which claims to be a "non-habit-forming patch that includes a blend of sleep-enhancing ingredients that are delivered directly into the bloodstream through skin pores via transdermal technology."
Abdullah also said that her son had been crying more, and had stopped eating. He was bringing home his lunches, which had gone uneaten.
The Spring ISD sent ABC13 Houston an email two weeks after Luviano reported the incident. In it they claimed to take "every allegation of educator misconduct seriously and will take all necessary measures to ensure that our students are educated in a safe and nurturing environment."
Luviano was less than pleased with their response time. "It took them two weeks, and now they are finally saying something," she said. "All the parents are here. We want answers."
