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Kindergarten student in Kingsessing found with cocaine

Published  May 17, 2018 5:33pm EDT
U.S.
FOX 29 Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - Philadelphia police are investigating after a teacher spotted a 6-year-old girl in a kindergarten class with a bag of white powder. The little girl thought it was sugar.

The sign over the front door at the Mastery Charter School's Hardy Williams Academy says "Excellence, No Excuses." Now the discovery of the 6-year-old student chewing on a packet of what police say was crack cocaine had parents concerned and police investigating.

"That's not good for kids. Kindergarten. That's not good," said parent Ricardo Davis.

"It's a sad situation. We understand this can happen in any school. Anywhere in any neighborhood. Our top priority is keeping our students safe," said Rae Oglesby, of Mastery Charter Schools.

The 6-year-old was in class when the teacher noticed her chewing on the plastic packet and saw the white substance. Authorities were alerted. The little girl told police she got the packet out of a fellow student's backpack. It tested positive for cocaine.

"We're confident the situation is under control at this point. Now we're trying to determine where the drugs came from," said Lt. John Walker.

Police spoke with the child and her parents. They also did a consent search of her home. There were no drugs. On Thursday, school officials stepped up their security measures in the wake of the drug discovery.

"We made sure that we checked the backpacks again. We did it Wednesday and again Thursday to make sure. Teachers are on an elevated level of alert," Oglesby said.

The cocaine incident has worried parents with children attending the school at 54th and Warrington. School officials are cooperating with police as they try to determine where the drugs came from in the first place.

"We've got kids who are being exposed to stuff they shouldn't really be exposed to," Lt. Walker added.

"We have to protect our kids. They are our future," Davis said.

The child was not harmed and was checked at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. No other drugs were found in the school. The investigation is continuing.