News Every Day | 06:17

Iberia Middle School students unknowingly given THC candy, require medical attention

NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY) -- A New Iberia mother said her child and several other students needed medical assistance after they unknowingly took THC-laced gummies at Iberia Middle School.

The Iberia Parish School District confirmed an incident took place, saying the school requested help from Acadian Ambulance and the sheriff's office.

According to parents, the incident happened early Monday morning, just as school was beginning.

"My baby was on a stretcher, the ambulance stretcher. She wasn't the only one, baby. They hauled the lot of them out of here," Quandisha Michael said.

Michael's 13-year-old daughter is an 8th grader at Iberia Middle School. Michael said she rushed from work to the school after getting a call her child had unknowingly taken THC-laced gummies.

"You should have seen my child. She didn't know which way she was going. She's crying. She's hallucinating," she added. "She said she was swimming. She's thinking she's swimming."

The mother said she saw other children also having the same reaction. She said she later learned, a student had allegedly brought the THC candy to school and passed them out to several other students without telling them what was in it.

"That's when they started calling all of them to the office. They all were passing out. They were putting kids on stretchers. The kids' eyes were bloodshot red. You hear me? Those children's hearts were beating fast, fast, fast. It's like they didn't know what to do. Those kids look like they saw the devil. They thought they were going to die because they didn't want to go to sleep," she recalled.

Michael said the student who brought the gummies was expelled, but her daughter was also suspended for five days after school staff found a wrapper for the THC gummies in her backpack. She claims the student who passed out the candy put it in there.

"Why is my child suspended? That made me feel angry and like y'all are insulting my child like she's a drug dealer, like she takes drugs," Michael told News 10.

She said her child was the only one suspended. News 10 spoke with the parent of another student, who unknowingly took the gummies. The parent confirmed their child was not suspended.

"She's not going back to that school. I refuse to let my child go to that school and something else happen again," the mother said.

The Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office said a school resource officer is on campus, and they are still investigating the matter.

The Iberia Parish School District released the following statement:

"We are aware of a recent social media post that is spreading misinformation regarding an incident at Iberia Middle School on Monday.

We want to assure you that the incident in question was thoroughly investigated, and the parents of the students involved were immediately contacted. To ensure safety, the school did request additional assistance from Acadian Ambulance and the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Department. As a precaution, we recommended that the students get checked out by a medical professional.

In light of this event, we encourage you to have conversations with your children about the potential dangers of them accepting food or candy from their peers. it's important for them to understand that not everything that looks like candy is safe to consume. Additionally, we want to remind students and families that bringing harmful or prohibited substances onto campus is a serious offense that could result in expulsion from school.

Please reinforce with your children the importance of making safe choices and reaching out to trusted adults if they feel uncertain about what they're offered.

We appreciate your partnership in keeping our students safe."