CATAWISSA R.R. - A school nurse has resigned amidst allegations of student medication tampering in Southern Columbia.
At the Southern Columbia Area School Board meeting Monday, secondary school nurse Lisa Fleishauer resigned, effective May 30. The resignation came after Locust Township Police released a two-page statement concerning an investigation at the school.
According to the statement from police Chief Allen Breach, authorities were called to the school May 9, when a school official advised the officer of suspicious activity involving student medications.
"The medication involving two students did not appear to be 'normal' when a nurse went to dispense the medication," Breach wrote in the statement. "At this time, it is undetermined if the medication was intentionally tampered with or changed out with some other type of medication, or if an environmental issued caused a breakdown of the medication."
Breach said the medication in question has been sent to a laboratory for analysis, but no results were available as of Saturday, the date of the release.
Police have consulted with a physician and other health care professionals.
Breach said the parents/guardians of the two students involved were notified of the potential problems with their medication, and all other parents of students who are dispensed medication through the nurse were also informed of any potential problems with the system and were assured that all appropriate steps are being taken.
Police said no reports have been received of any students suffering any ill effects or problems from this incident.
Breach said police do not have any staff member, student, visitor or criminal suspected singled out as a primary suspect. Locust Township Police are still conducting interviews of people who had access to or who were in the nurse's office around the time of the incident.
"As you can imagine, the list of potential people to be interviewed is quite large," Breach said in the statement.
Police will not identify the type of medication affected, the names of anyone interviewed or other investigative steps being taken by police or the district.
School officials were not available for comment Tuesday afternoon, but Fleishauer's resignation at Monday's meeting was unanimously approved 8-0 with members Mike Yeager, Charlie Porter, Charlene Cove, Joseph Klebon, Thomas Reich, Timothy Vought, John Yocum and Gail Zambor Schuerch voting yes.
In other business
- The board authorized business manager Michael Sokoloski to make appropriate transfers for property budgetary accounting to close out the fiscal year and prepare for audit and approved a $1 million tax and revenue anticipation note for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
- The board unanimously approved the resignation of Joy Kroening as regular run bus driver, the list of the 2014 Southern Columbia Summer Programs and Staff and tenure for teachers Cheyanne Coladonato and Alexis Spade.
- Southern Columbia approved a cooperative agreement with Danville Area School District for competitive cheerleading for this year. SCA will be the host district and all Danville students will be required to pay the $50 pay-to-participate fee the district passed earlier this year.
- An addendum to the district's memorandum of understanding with Locust Township Police was approved. In the new documents, Locust Township Police will provide daily drive-through patrols on campus and walkthroughs of the building at least once a week, consult with SCA Administration to provide assistance in writing grants and attend SCA's monthly safety committee meetings. In return, the district will pay $300 to the police for the additional services.