A Virginia woman claims a third-party counselor at her son's private school has been handing out prescription medicine to students, including the painkiller Percocet, WRIC-TV reported.
Kanika McBride told the television station said she received a "terrifying" telephone call Friday from the principal at Richmond's United Methodist Family Services' Charterhouse School.
"The principal called and said that an adult had given my son some medicine," McBride told WRIC. "I was in utter shock and disbelief that one of the places that I deemed should be most safe was a place where he had access to Percocet by an adult who's supposed to be guiding him."
McBride told the television station her 15-year-old son did not realize the medicine was a prescription drug.
"He said that (the medication) was sitting out and (the counselor) just offered it to him, and he told him, 'Yes,' and he went and took it," McBride told WRIC.
The television station reported the counselor works for Dominion Youth Services, which offers one-on-one support for students with behavioral challenges. The school contracted with the company to help some of the students, including McBride's son, WRIC reported.
School officials released a statement, saying they were "disheartened" about the allegations
"We're disheartened to learn of allegations that a third-party student services contractor may have offered prescription drugs to some of our students. We acted immediately by meeting with students, contacting the contractor's employer and notifying the police." the statement said.
Dominion Youth Services officials said all of its employees undergo background checks, adding the employee in question has been suspended pending results of its investigation, WRIC reported.
Richmond police said no charges have been filed and an investigation is ongoing, the television station reported.
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