Baltimore County teacher accused of giving students with disabilities melatonin

Principals at a special education school in Catonsville noticed that students with disabilities were napping in the middle of the day. When the behavior continued for six weeks straight, they suspected foul play, according to court documents.

Tiffany Council, the mother of one of the students, thought her son’s teacher was giving her child — along with the rest of the class — melatonin without the consent of their parents.

Now, she’s suing Baltimore County Public Schools.

Council is accusing Maiden Choice School, the school system, the school board, her child’s teacher and the school principal of assault and battery; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and negligence in the September 2024 incident.

Council’s nonverbal autistic son attended the day school dedicated to students with cognitive disabilities. She alleges that her son was given melatonin, a hormone that promotes sleep, by his teacher, Xenia Murchison, and her aides over two months, according to court records.

Baltimore County Public Schools declined to comment on the case but said Murchison is no longer employed by the school system.

A staff member reported melatonin was used, Council’s lawsuit says, and confirmed Council’s son was one of the students to receive the hormone.

Council said she heard that Murchison was placed on administrative leave, according to court documents, and that the incident was under investigation. But she said that school administrators didn’t say who was responsible for administering the melatonin to her son.

Before the staff member spoke up, the school’s principal, Kathryn Wess, and an unnamed assistant principal were suspicious of foul play, court documents state, after noticing Murchison’s entire class was asleep at the same time every day for at least six weeks.

Around the same time, Council said she heard Murchison promoting the use of melatonin, “specifically for aiding non-verbal autism behavior,” her lawsuit says.

“Despite the suspicions, no further action was taken by the school, including, but not limited to, contacting parents,” Council’s lawyers said in the lawsuit.

According to Council, Murchison asked her several times whether she tried giving her son melatonin at home. Council said she did not, and that it was not a treatment his doctor recommended. She told the teacher she did not want her son using any supplements or medicine without her knowledge.

As a result of the incident, Council said, her son experienced significant cognitive and behavioral setbacks as well as bloody noses, blood in his mouth and frequent clotting.

Council’s lawyer declined to comment. Murchison’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Allegations of teachers using substances on students with disabilities have come up before. In the same year as the alleged incident at Maiden Choice, preschool teachers in Texas were accused of giving sleeping aids to students.

Parents in Washington state are suing an early-learning center for allegedly giving students Benadryl. And parents in Los Angeles said that their children were given mood-calming stickers without their consent.

“There are no allegations in the Complaint that Ms. Wess administered melatonin to [Council’s son] or that she knew that Ms. Murchison was allegedly providing melatonin to students before the allegations were reported to her,” said the school system’s lawyers, who represent Maiden Choice, Wess and the school board.

The school system’s lawyers said their clients should not be held liable for the claims against them.

Only a school nurse or a properly trained and certified staffer can administer medication to students at school, court documents say. If it’s true that Murchison gave the student melatonin, the board and the principal cannot be held liable for her actions, the school system’s lawyers said in court documents.

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