A former Virginia school aide has been accused of stealing prescribed medications for several elementary school students and swapping them with allergy pills, according to an indictment issued on Tuesday.
Jennifer Carpenter, a former employee at Greenbriar East Elementary School in Fairfax County, Virginia, allegedly replaced seven students’ daily doses of Adderall and Ritalin, used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, with over-the-counter allergy medication. She now faces 11 grand jury charges, including unlawful drug possession, misbranding of drugs, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the indictment obtained by the Washington Examiner.
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“Our child would tell us, ‘Hey, I didn’t get my medicine at school.’ So we would email the school health aide and she would, you know, assure us over email that she had gotten it,” Brett Byrnes, a parent of one of the students, told NBC Washington. “According to them, the school health aide admitted to giving at least our daughter, and presumably the other students, over-the-counter Claritin.”
Byrnes raised concerns to the school, prompting the county health department to investigate and later fire Carpenter on June 15, the Fairfax County Health Department confirmed to the Washington Examiner. Police later opened their own investigation, which led to Carpenter’s indictment on Tuesday.
The absence of the prescribed medications led the children to struggle with their behavior and academic performance, causing some to seek out advice from their doctors, parents said. The incident prompted the county to implement new medication reporting policies that will require weekly audits of student medications.
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Carpenter is set to appear in court on Thursday to face the 11 charges levied against her. She has not yet been arrested.
A spokesperson for the elementary school did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
