Several kindergartners consumed a pre-mixed tequila drink at their Michigan school, which acknowledged the “fears and frustrations” parents felt after they learned of the incident, officials said Monday.
No student at Grand River Academy in Livonia was hurt or needed medical attention, school spokeswoman Leah Nixon said in a statement.
“We understand our parents’ fears and frustrations. A student did bring one pre-mixed, single-serve alcoholic beverage that was marketed as adult lemonade to school and share it with four classmates,” Nixon said Monday in a statement to NBC News.
“While we try to keep an eye on everything our students bring to school, that’s simply not possible. It’s unfortunate that these types of adult beverages can be easily mistaken for child-friendly drinks.”
Staff members at the school, 20 miles northwest of downtown Detroit, “quickly noticed the beverage and immediately addressed the situation” by contacting “medical professionals at poison control and calling the parents of the children involved,” Nixon added.
The incident happened when a youngster took a bottle of a Jose Cuervo mixed tequila drink to campus Thursday and poured it into small paper cups for fellow kindergartners during snack time, parent Dominique Zanders said.
Zanders’ 5-year-old daughter was left “woozy” and “dizzy” after she had “four or five sips” of the tequila before she told a teacher.
“That made me flip out,” Zanders said. “Are you serious? My daughter, a 5-year-old in kindergarten, had liquor? And the teacher didn’t see this?”