Children at Chicago elementary school fall ill after eating cookies believed to be ‘edibles’

CHICAGO (WGN) — A group of students at a Chicago elementary school were sickened Tuesday afternoon after reportedly eating cookies believed to have been laced with cannabis.

The cookies were passed around by another student and are believed to have been edibles, which are food or drinks made with cannabis, according to school officials.

The incident happened at around 1:30 p.m. Parents told Nexstar’s WGN-TV that they arrived at Fort Dearborn School in the Chicago neighborhood of Washington Heights at around 2 p.m. to pick up their kids when they saw police and fire trucks at the school.

“We saw the activity. Like, what is really going on? That’s when we were told a few kids got sick. It wasn’t our kids because she’s in first grade,” parent Stephanie Willis said.

Many parents did not know what was happening until school staff members said a student had passed out cookies to a group of kids who then got sick.

School staff members instructed parents to wait at a side entrance to pick their kids up one by one.

Police officers could be seen at the front of the building talking with the principal. One woman who spoke with WGN-TV said her godson was offered one of the cookies but did not eat it.

“He said he thought it was a cookie, but it didn’t taste right,” the woman said. She said her godson spit the cookie out because of the odd taste.

Some parents said they’ve heard about this type of incident happening at other schools and have been diligent about talking with and keeping a close eye on their children.

“She does the stranger danger. She doesn’t take anything from anybody unless she knows this is the person that’s okay to get anything from,” Willis said. “Her dad, [we] check her book bag when she comes in, goes out, anything she brings home from school, we still check.”

A source told WGN-TV that 11 children, ages 11 to 14, were taken to an area hospital. The same source said that at the time the children were taken to the hospital, they were in good or fair condition.

WGN-TV also reached out to the school for comment. The principal later provided the following statement:

Safety is always my top priority, which is why I am writing to notify you of a situation impacting our school. Earlier today, we were made aware that a few members of our school community had ingested an unknown substance. We immediately provided support to our impacted community members and notified their parents and the CPS Office of Safety and Security. While I cannot provide further details for privacy reasons, I can share that we are handling this matter in accordance with CPS policies.

We believe our community member may have ingested the unknown substance in the form of “edibles,” which are food or drinks that are made with cannabis or other prohibited substances. Prohibited substances of any kind are not allowed at our school, and we encourage you to take this opportunity to have a conversation with your child about the health risks associated with consuming edibles, and to remind them not to accept food if they do not know where it came from.

Thank you for your partnership as we continue striving to create a healthy and positive learning environment at our school. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly.

Sincerely,
Principal Porter