TEXAS CITY A Texas City High School special education instructor and an aide are charged with drug possession on the campus stemming from an incident in which the aide reportedly had a bad reaction to muscle relaxers given to him by his co-worker.
Kimberly Delon Dickey, 32, and Rogers Charles III, 29, both were charged with drug possession in a dug free school zone, police said.
Dickey, who had been with the district four years, is a life skills teacher, while Charles, who s been with the school district for five years is a life skills aide.
Life skills instructors work with special-needs and handicapped students to help develop basic skills.
Both have been on administrative leave during the investigation, district spokeswoman Melissa Tortorici said.
Galveston County Sheriff s Office Spokesman Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said the charges against the two school employees followed a monthlong investigation after Charles had to be transported to the hospital from the high school campus on Jan. 29.
Tuttoilmondo said Charles reportedly had been complaining of severe back pain when Dickey offered him some Soma pills. Soma is a narcotic pain reliever.
Dickey allegedly also gave Charles some prescription Ibuprofen.
It is a state and federal violation for someone to give drugs prescribed to them to someone else. Likewise, it is illegal for someone to have or to take medications not prescribed to them.
The teacher s aide had an adverse reaction to one of the drugs, and an ambulance was called to the high school, Tuttoilmondo said. While being treated by medical personnel, school district officials learned that prescription pills might have been at issue and reported the incident to the sheriff s office school liaison deputies.
The Galveston County Sheriff s Office provides security and law enforcement for the Texas City school district.
Tortorici said the two workers were placed on administrative leave on Feb. 1.
On Monday, both met with sheriff s deputies at the high school campus about the case and were arrested.
Tuttoilmondo said no students saw the arrests and that there was no evidence any students were involved in the incident that led to the criminal charges. Dickey and Charles were escorted out of the building to waiting patrol cars but were not handcuffed, Tortorici said.
Dickey was charged with delivery of a controlled substance in a drug free zone, while Charles was charged with possession of a controlled substance in a drug free zone.
Both were released from the Galveston County Jail on $1,500 bond, Tuttoilmondo said.
Tortorici said the workers still are on administrative leave.
This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com's partnership with The Galveston County Daily News.
