License of Kid Castle franchise accused of sedating children revoked

Taipei, June 8 (CNA) A preschool in Kid Castle Educational Institute's franchise system was fined NT$150,000 (US$4,881) by New Taipei's Education Bureau Thursday and had its license revoked from June 12 amid accusations of children being given sedatives in recent months.

The private preschool in New Taipei's Banqiao District faces allegations made by the parents of 17 students since May 14 that their children were drugged, leading to raids by prosecutors on the homes of eight school employees, including the school principal, early Thursday.

Later Thursday, New Taipei Education Bureau handed down the penalties for the preschool in line with the Early Childhood Education and Care Act. It did not reveal the name of the school.

The preschool was a franchise of the Kid Castle Educational Institute, a leading English language school for kids, according to a statement from the institute that day.

Although the preschool operated independently of the Kid Castle system, the institute will fully cooperate with prosecutors in their investigation to unearth the truth, according to the statement.

Kid Castle Educational Institute also announced that it will terminate its franchise partnership with the preschool and the brand's other branches.

If the allegations are found to be true, the preschool's principal and teachers involved in the case will be held accountable for any legal liabilities and indemnification for damages caused to the institute's reputation, according to the statement.

The allegations against the preschool were first made on May 14, when the parents of three children reported to police that a teacher had given their children unknown drugs and used improper physical methods to discipline them.

In the reports to the police, the parents said they had noticed behavioral changes in their children, including extreme irritability and incidents of self-harm, during the period February to April.

In response, prosecutors conducted a search of the school on May 18 and detained the accused teacher, surnamed Chao (趙), for questioning, but later released her on bail of NT$20,000.

Since then, 14 other parents have filed reports with the police.

At a press conference last week, a student's father, surnamed Chiang (江), said he had taken his child to three different hospitals for blood and urine tests in late May after the story broke in the media.

On June 1, the blood test results at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital showed the presence of barbiturates, a class of central nervous system depressant drugs used to help patients sleep, to relieve anxiety and muscle spasms, and to prevent seizures, according to Chiang.

As of Thursday, 28 of the school's 67 students had been given drug tests, with eight found to have traces of barbiturates in their systems, New Taipei City government said.

Among the 28 children, 16 were give drugs tests initiated by the city's Education Bureau on June 5. Before that, the parents of the others had their children tested at local hospitals.

Yen Tzung-hai (顏宗海), a nephrologist at the Chang Gung hospital, told reporters Thursday that barbiturates are prescription drugs used in hospitals and classified as Level 3 controlled substances by the Ministry of Justice, meaning that in theory they are not easily accessible to the general public.

An overdose of barbiturates can cause respiratory problems and pose life-threatening risks, he said.

According to Yen, barbiturate residue can be detected in the blood samples of adults within three days of being administered and such drugs can remain in the bodies of young children for longer because the metabolic rate in children is slower.

Hair follicle drug tests can be used to determine whether a person has used drugs over the past three months, Yen said.

Meanwhile, Thursday evening, a group of students held placards in a protest against New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) of the Kuomintang (KMT) at National Chengchi University where he was attending a forum hosted by students in his capacity as the KMT's 2024 presidential candidate.

Some of the placards claimed Hou has neglected his duty as a mayor and cared only about his presidential campaign.

Some of the parents filed complaints about the preschool with the city government long before the news was made public, but the city government failed to take action, possibly due to the sensitive timing of Hou being nominated as KMT's presidential candidate, Huang Cheng-han (黃承瀚), a student in the protest, said.

Speaking to reporters on the sideline of the event, Hou bowed his head to apologize for the incident twice, saying that he felt sad, heartbroken, and always feels a sense of responsibility in such cases.

The city government referred the case to prosecutors for investigation immediately upon receiving the complaints, and a task force was set up to look into it, Hou said.

Hou vowed to discipline perpetrators and make every effort to protect children's health.