Clark County district drug oversight based on documentation, trust

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The Springfield News-Sun first broke the news of a Clark-Shawnee clinical aide accused of stealing prescription drugs on Friday online at SpringfieldNewsSun.com.

Clark-Shawnee Local Schools leaders credited its student medication procedures with catching an alleged drug theft and also said the system is based on trust.

Amy Baumgardner, 48, has pleaded not guilty to a felony theft charge. She’s been placed on leave from her job as a clinical aide for the district after being accused of stealing prescription drugs from students.

In a letter sent to home with parents on Friday, Principal Amanda Ike said the school’s protocol and procedures in regards to handling student’s medication as the reason the missing drugs were found quickly on Thursday.

Every pill given to the school is counted and documented, Superintendent Gregg Morris said.

“It is going to be caught when the student does not have medication,” Morris said. “If there is not medication, the parents will be contacted. And that’s when you know something is wrong.”

RELATED: Clark County school aide on leave due to missing student medication

There isn’t a lot of oversight of the handling of drugs, Morris said. Typically the only person who views the paperwork is the person who counted the pills, he said.

Clark County investigators asked Baumgardner about incomplete paperwork they found, a police affidavit states.

“Amy removed the files and I viewed several forms of what appeared to be a med pass log,” Clark County Deputy Mark Lane wrote in court records. “Some of the forms were filled out and some were only half done. I questioned Amy about the forms and she stated that she was trying to fix them.”

Baumgardner first denied taking an Adderall pill from a student, according to court records, then reportedly told a deputy she needed some “to get her through the day.”

Lane wrote in the report that Baumgardner told him she is prescribed the medication herself.

MORE COVERAGE: Deputy: School nurse admits taking Adderall from students

Morris said the scenario the school now faces is atypical. Most of the employees at the school district are trustworthy, he said, and Baumgardner passed state and federal background checks before she was hired.

“We have to trust our employees until there is reason not to trust them,” Morris said. “We have nurses who have been here a number of years and it’s never been a problem. But if there is something that does not look right we investigate that immediately.”

A review of Baumgardner’s personnel file and disciplinary record by the Springfield News-Sun shows she hadn’t been written up for anything prior to the alleged medication theft.

Baumgardner wasn’t drug tested before she was hired on Aug. 16, Morris said. Clark-Shawnee didn’t drug tests any of their new employees this school year.

“We have the typical procedure of requirements when we employ people,” Morris said. “Our protocol is the BCI/FBI background checks.”

He said the district followed its protocols and protected their students.

State law doesn’t set standards schools must follow when handling prescription drugs but requires school boards to make an individual policy that best fits the district.

Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly said the arrest shows how broad the drug epidemic is

“It’s not just heroin,” Kelly said. “(Baumgardner) was a licensed practical nurse. She could lose her job, her license. This shows the impact of addiction and it touches every level of our community.”