Parents at Northgate Crossing Elementary School in Texas are outraged after claims surfaced that teachers gave young students “sleeping stickers” containing melatonin to help them sleep during nap time. The controversy came to light in September when 4-year-old Layne Luviano brought home one of the stickers and showed it to her mother, sparking alarm among parents.

A suspicious sticker leads to concern

Layne’s mother, Lisa Luviano, immediately sensed something was off when her daughter referred to the patch as a “sleeping sticker.” “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 told KTRK. The concerned mother did some research and found that the patches, which are available on Amazon, are designed for adults and contain melatonin—a supplement commonly used to aid sleep. The Mayo Clinic has cautioned that it remains “unclear whether melatonin supplements are safe for children.”

Parents sound the alarm

After discovering the nature of the patches, Luviano sent a mass text to other parents warning them. Soon after, additional reports emerged from students who claimed they had also received the stickers. Parent Najla Abdullah shared a similar story, explaining that her 4-year-old son told her he was given a “special sticker” by his teacher. “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 recounted. Abdullah expressed further concern over her son’s disrupted sleep patterns, noting, “Every night, my son will come home. He’s staying up. He’s not sleeping.”

School district launches investigation

In response to the uproar, Spring Independent School District (SISD) has placed two teachers and two paraprofessionals on administrative leave as the district investigates the incident. “The safety of our students is our highest priority, and we take every allegation of misconduct seriously,” the district said in a statement. “We ask for our community’s patience as the SISD Police Department conducts their investigation.”

Superintendent condemns alleged actions

Spring ISD Superintendent Dr. Lupita Hinojosa addressed the situation in a letter to parents, calling the alleged distribution of melatonin a “clear violation” of school district policies. “The news that a teacher allegedly gave a student melatonin is deeply troubling and absolutely unacceptable,” Hinojosa stated in the letter. “Under no circumstances should any staff member ever administer medication to a student without the proper procedures in place.” As the investigation continues, concerned parents are left awaiting answers about how such a troubling situation could unfold at their children’s school.