Texas preschool teacher arrested after four kids exposed to THC and hospitalized on Halloween

Police arrested a Texas preschool teacher after four children were hospitalized on Halloween following alleged exposure to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, according to police and the school.

Four children at Primrose School of Prosper, a preschool about 40 miles north of Dallas, displayed “unusual symptoms of illness” and were hospitalized on Monday after being exposed to THC through a teacher, according to a statement franchise owner Mike Casey provided to NBC News.

Anisah Burks, 35, was arrested on four counts of injury to a child and one count of possession of a controlled substance following the incident, Collin County jail records show. A representative for Primrose School of Prosper confirmed Burks was a teacher there.

Burks was deemed ineligible for a court-appointed lawyer at the time of her arrest and does not currently have one, according to the Collin County District Clerk's Office.

A spokesperson for the Prosper Police Department said it would not release the ages of the children involved due to an ongoing investigation involving minors. The spokesperson said the department is investigating how the children were exposed to THC, and the amount they were exposed to is currently unknown.

Recreational use of marijuana remains illegal in Texas, according to state law.

Burks was "immediately terminated" from her employment at the school following the incident, according to the statement from Casey, which added that school officials called 911 and evacuated the building after observing the children's symptoms.

Police notified the Texas Department of Family Services Child Care Licensing Division, which regulates child care providers in the state, following the incident, a spokesperson said.

Emergency medical personnel transported three of the children to a hospital, and a fourth was taken to a hospital by their parents after being picked up from the school, police said, adding that all children have since been released from the hospital.

Casey said the school was closed on Tuesday and would reopen Wednesday. His statement added that the school conducts background checks on all teachers and staff members — which included Burks — and added that "this was an isolated incident involving one teacher who was immediately terminated."

"This news has been shocking, upsetting and shakes us to the very core of every principle we stand for," Casey said in the statement. "There is no greater priority to us every day than the health and safety of the children entrusted to our care."

The incident follows several recent situations that similarly left children hospitalized after they consumed foods laced with THC.

Last month, a Virginia mother was charged with murder after her 4-year-old son died two days after consuming a "large amount" of THC gummies in May.

In 2020, at least two children — an 11-year-old and a 5-year-old — were hospitalized after eating a “Medicated Nerds Rope,” a THC-laced candy, from a food bank in Utah.

A year earlier, the mother of a 5-year-old boy was arrested for child endangerment after her son brought gummies laced with THC to his Cleveland elementary school, causing nine children to be hospitalized.

In 2018, at least five Florida middle school students were taken to the hospital after eating marijuana-laced gummy bears, which a 12-year-old boy allegedly handed out during gym class.

Medical experts said the 2015 death of an 11-month-old baby boy in Colorado marked “the first reported pediatric death associated with cannabis,” though the baby was officially listed as having died from myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and other experts questioned whether cannabis caused the death.

Poison Control says that “serious and sometimes life-threatening side effects can occur in children who consume cannabis edibles,” and recommends parents keep cannabis products away from kids.

Side effects for kids who consume THC edibles can include “vomiting, dizziness, difficulty walking, a rapid heart rate, drowsiness, confusion, and breathing difficulties,” along with hallucinations, low blood pressure and an abnormally slow heart rate in severe cases, according to Poison Control.

“Parents and caregivers should call poison control regardless of whether symptoms are present because signs and symptoms may not occur immediately after consumption,” the organization says.