Arlington Heights school nurse charged with giving students wrong medication

After an investigation that took nearly four months, an Arlington Heights school nurse was charged Friday in connection with misappropriating medication prescribed to students, police said.

Tory E. Eitz, 48, of the 300 block of West Euclid Avenue, was fired from her job at Westgate Elementary School in May. Eitz now is charged with one felony count of official misconduct, five felony counts of forgery, and seven misdemeanor counts of endangering the life or health of a child.

In announcing the charges Friday afternoon, police said “multiple” students were affected.

Eitz couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Police detectives reviewed physical evidence collected at the school, information obtained from forensically extracted data and documents obtained through the legal process, in addition to conducting numerous interviews with witnesses, school staff members and parents, according to a news release.

Authorities said they gathered information to substantiate that Eitz altered official school documents to conceal her actions.

Eitz was taken into custody Friday, then processed and released, in compliance with the state’s Pretrial Fairness Act. She is due in court Monday.

Gina DeBoni, an attorney representing nine families of children who may have been given the wrong medication, said Friday night the parents are “satisfied and grateful” for the arrest.

“After four distressing months, the families involved can now breathe a small sigh of relief,” said DeBoni, of the Chicago law firm Romanucci & Blandin.

But DeBoni turned the attention to Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 administrators, who she said have failed “to take accountability.”

She said she learned during her civil investigation that district officials knew of improper administration of medication, missing medication, and the failure to follow protocols as early as 2022.

Through their attorneys, one family previously said their child suffered health problems after blood tests showed signs of excessive aspirin intake and fentanyl.

In a message to families Friday night, District 25 Superintendent Brian Kaye said upon initially being made aware of the matter in April, the district immediately contacted Arlington Heights police and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

“We cooperated fully in both of their investigations of this matter,” Kaye wrote.

Then-Superintendent Lori Bein in late April placed Eitz on administrative leave, and the school board fired Eitz about two weeks later citing “gross misconduct committed outside the scope of her employment, multiple unauthorized violations of District 25 policy and procedures, and willful insubordination,” according to a school board resolution.

The arrest Friday comes days after the district announced new procedures for how medication will be administered during the school day.

In addition to a school nurse, a witness — either another nurse or a school administrator — must verify any prescription controlled substances that are dropped off at schools by parents, according to the new rules.

That second person also will be required to do a weekly check of the nurse’s office to verify that medicine bottle contents match a written description of the prescription and amounts.

If any controlled substance is missing, district officials say they will notify Arlington Heights police.

Following a review of guidance documents from state agencies and medical associations this spring and summer, Kaye said the district’s updated medication management procedures are “substantial.”