Texas teachers accused of giving elementary school students sleep-aid stickers

SPRING, Texas -- An investigation is underway after Texas school district teachers were accused of giving elementary school students special stickers that are believed to be sleeping aids.

The district said two elementary school teachers were removed from class and placed on administrative leave as police investigate the allegations.

It's not out of the ordinary for Lisa Luviano's daughter to come home from school with something to show.

On Sept. 24, it was a sticker with a starry nightlike design.

"She said, 'It is a sleeping sticker.' I asked, 'Where did you get this?' And she said, 'My teacher gives it to me for sleeping time,'" Luviano said.

Luviano claims her daughter told her that other kids in her class also get it.

"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.

The expectation was that the school would notify other parents after nearly two weeks went by. Luviano grew increasingly concerned.

She decided to loop them in on her own by sending a mass text.

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When Najla Abdullah got it, she began questioning her 4-year-old, asking him if he had ever received a "special sticker."

"He said, 'Yes, mommy. I get a special sticker.' 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,'" Abdullah said.

Abdullah and other parents started calling the school and reporting it to Child Protective Services.

Some told ABC Houston affiliate KTRK that they even took their kids to the hospital to get checked out.

"Every night, my son will come home. He's staying up. He's not sleeping," Abdullah said.

Luviano claims her daughter exhibited similar behaviors.

"I just felt bad because all of the things she was going through made sense," Luviano said.

A formal notification from Spring, Texas Independent School District came Tuesday, exactly two weeks after Luviano reported the incident.

The district sent KTRK the following statement:

Spring ISD is aware of allegations that two staff members at Northgate Crossing Elementary School allegedly administered sleeping supplements to students on Sept. 24. These staff members were immediately removed from the classroom and placed on administrative leave pending an ongoing investigation by the Spring ISD Police Department. The district takes 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.

"It took them two weeks, and now they are finally saying something. All the parents are here. We want answers," Luviano said.

KTRK caught parents confronting an assistant superintendent for the district outside the school on Tuesday.

She later spoke with him and another administrator, who called the district's delayed communication a "failure."

Luviano and her husband want to see criminal charges come from this.

"Who is guilty for this? Who had been doing this to our kids? Because they are not telling what the side effects are in the long run," Luviano said.

The district has not identified the two staff members in question.

Parents are now questioning how long this went on and if it goes beyond just special stickers.

"My trust was broken by this teacher we opened our hearts to," Luviano said.