Posted on 12/05/2022 8:02:21 AM PST by Red Badger
OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. -- A Destin Middle School health technician was arrested and charged Thursday with stealing prescription medicine from students.
27-year-old Makayla Crandall, of Niceville, is charged with three counts of grand theft of a controlled substance, five counts of child neglect, and one count of failure to maintain narcotics records.
According to a release, not only did Crandall steal medicine, she was also found in some instances replacing the stolen medication with aspirin or ALEVE.
Crandall had been employed since July.
A release states one of the students who visited Crandall daily began to notice differences in the color of her pills and told her mother. The mother then monitored differences in her child's behavior.
An Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office School Resource Officer, as well as school employees, conducted an audit in October overseeing the school medicine cabinet.
The audit revealed at least 110 missing amphetamine/dexmethylphenidate pills from at least five students. A release states one bottle contained an ALEVE pill and another had seven pills later identified as aspirin.
According to a release, the investigation revealed that around the same September/October timeframe, two other parents say they had become concerned after noticing a resurfacing of behavioral issues with their children. During the audit, one of those student's medication bottles was found to contain aspirin, which the parent says the student is not to be administered.
A release also states, the mother of a third victim says she dropped off a bottle of Adderall for her daughter Sept. 29 but had to take her to the emergency room on Oct. 4 due to her erratic, unusual behavior.
Crandall had sole possession of the key to the medicine cabinet, according to a release.
A release says Crandall was unable to explain how student medications were missing or had been switched out.
Crandall was arrested and booked into Okaloosa County Jail on Thursday. She is held on $9,000 bond.
The Okaloosa County School District put out this statement Friday:
A contracted healthcare employee serving as the Health Technician at Destin Middle School has been arrested by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office following an investigation into improper handling of student medication. Okaloosa County School District (OCSD) Leadership was notified by Destin Middle School Principal Dr. Belinda Small over a parent concern regarding the handling of a student’s medication on Monday, October 3rd, after school hours. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Department of Children and Families, and Aveanna Healthcare, which provides employees to oversee the District’s school clinic operations, were all notified by OCSD leadership immediately after they became aware of the concern.
On Tuesday, October 4th, the individual was removed from the position and was not allowed to return to the school while law enforcement conducted its investigation. “As Superintendent, I am appalled by the allegations,” said Marcus Chambers. “We will work with authorities to ensure this individual, if guilty, is punished to the fullest extent of the law. We fully supported the efforts by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office throughout the investigation and have mandated that Aveanna put in place additional checks and balances with regard to dispensing student medicine in our school clinics. Parents should have absolute confidence that their child’s visit to the school clinic is handled professionally and accurately. Aveanna has been a good healthcare partner over a number of years and acted swiftly in this matter to address the District’s concerns.”
Know it well.
What is a school doing with amphetamine/dexmethylphenidate pills??
They are student’s OWN prescription medications that were to be administered to the student at prescribed times by the ‘health technician’ who has sole possession of the key to the medicine locker.....................
Why would a kid need ‘speed’?
amphetamine
That should be banned. The schools are drugging the kids to keep them quiet. The parents can stop any adhd by not feeding the kids a diet high on sugar.
These are prescriptions brought from HOME, not provided by the schools....................
School to parent: Little Bobby needs medicine for his ADHD.
When my daughter was in elementary school, we were called in for a meeting with a school counselor. This was about 1992.
The scumbag ‘counselor’ told us that our daughter should get her on ‘medications’ because she was overactive in class.
I told the asshole that I was going to throw him out the window, and that my daughter didn’t need any GD medications.
That was the end of the discussion.
She graduated with honors in 2005, is now 36 and a professional Eating Disorder Counselor...........
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