Parents question safety at Randolph school after teacher's coffee drugged
RANDOLPH - Parents in Randolph confronted school administrators in two meetings after a student allegedly put a drug in a teacher's coffee cup at the Donovan Elementary School. The incident comes after several bullet casings were found just a few weeks ago.
"It's hard for me to send my daughter to school and just try not to think of the worst," said concerned parent Desa Garcia. "It's definitely been concerning and just anxiety provoking with everything and all the new developments that have been happening. With the latest being the poisoning."
"You go in there as a parent and you want to know that your concerns are going to be validated and coming out of it, they definitely are," said concerned parent Joshua Quinn.
We're now learning it was medication pill a 4th grade teacher found in their coffee cup this week. They went to the hospital as a precaution, and now they're back in class.
Just a few weeks ago, several bullet casings were found in the same classroom.
School leaders told parents five kids are behind the incidents, saying in a letter this week, "We realize this has been a challenging month and we appreciate your continued support as we deal with the behaviors and decisions of a few students in one grade."
"There is a huge lack of transparency as far as the school administration, we learned a lot of information today that was never released," said Garcia.
That's the same issue for the Quinns whose daughter is also in 4th grade. They wanted to see better communication and planning for the unpredictable.
"In today's day and age, you can't create a plan, there has to already be a plan in set. It has to be, 'well if this is going to happen then this is what we do,'" said Joshua Quinn.
"It has to be more hypothetical questions because not everything fits in a box," added Brianna Quinn.
News media wasn't allowed inside the meeting. Parents said the students will be suspended for varying timeframes depending on their involvement. Plus, they must get evaluated to see if they're a danger to the school.
Police said because of the students' age-it was a disciplinary issue.
"It was honestly disappointing because we learned that the students are not being expelled, even though they did try and poison a teacher," said Garcia.
Parents are hopeful things will improve in the future, but they're still cautious.
"I can't say I have full confidence right now," said Brianna Quinn. "That needs to be more built trust with the school."
School leaders had no further comment.