Teacher pleads not guilty in sleeping pill scandal

Debbie Gratz, the now-infamous Morgan Hill preschool teacher accused of giving her students sleeping pills in effort to get them to nod off in a timely manner, further infuriated the community when she pleaded not guilty today.

In the days of the Wild West and the Gold Rush, it’s possible toddlers were given whiskey-dosed bottles to help quell their restless little bodies during long hauls on covered wagons.

In 2013, however, getting tiny kids to go to sleep via anything but natural methods is entirely unacceptable, and the parents of the preschoolers whose sippy cups were allegedly spiked with sleeping pills are demanding severe punishment.

Parent Joe Iacocca told KGO-TV he wants prison — not probation — for Gratz:

“he needs to do time. Anything could happen out there, like my daughter could have passed out and hit her head. She could have seizures now, who knows.”

Whether Gratz had run out of patience or was attempting to re-write her own version of the book, “Go the F*ck to Sleep,” the move was in so many ways not OK.

Gratz was immediately fired, and the students of Kiddie Academy are currently safe from anyone attempting to plant the seed for a long-standing pill addiction and hours of pharmaceutical-grade drowsiness. Parents, though, remain firm that Gratz pay for what she is accused of doing.

For now, Gratz has been charged with 10 misdemeanors. She is currently out on supervised release, and is obviously under orders to not have any contact with minors unrelated to her. No kidding.