A Kiddie Academy preschool teacher in Morgan Hill, Calif., was arrested on Monday after the school called police because they suspected she was drugging the children.
Debbie Gratz, 59, was fired on Friday after Gratz’ colleague witnessed Gratz allegedly slipping small pieces of pills inside the children’s sippy cups. Gratz was the teacher of classroom of 10 children under the age of 2.
Sgt. Troy Hoefling of Morgan Hill Investigations Unit told ABC News, “We do not know the quantity, but we believe she was breaking the pill into smaller pieces and putting it into the children’s sippy cups.
Sgt. Hoefling expressed concern, however, that the school waited so long to contact the police and may have inadvertently destroyed evidence. Police stopped short of accusing the preschool of doing so intentionally. Sgt. Hoefling said the Investigations Unit will have to rely on witnesses statements and Gratz’ own alleged confession in order to build a case since the sippy cups were washed out.