Tracy Lee Steinberg, Former Texas High School Teacher, Faces Felony For Giving Student 'Morning-After' Pill

A former Texas High School teacher faces felony charges for delivery of a dangerous drug after admitting to police that she gave a student an emergency contraceptive pill.

Tracy Lee Steinberg, a 32-year-old assistant basketball coach and math teacher at Lyndon B. Johnson High School in Austin has resigned after she said she gave a 16-year-old female student two morning-after pills, or Plan B, when the student showed up in class crying in January after having unprotected sex.

"I still love and care about all my students, I always have and always will," Steinberg told the Austin American-Statesman. "I always put their needs before my own."

According to an affidavit, Steinberg purchased the drugs at a Planned Parenthood because the student didn't have a prescription, which is required for girls under the age of 17. Steinberg told the girl that "she and her boyfriend had bright futures, and [Steinberg] could help her out," the American-Statesman reports.

The student began feeling regular side effects from the drug, including nausea, light-headedness and back pain, which prompted her to tell her mother, who then filed a report with the police. Steinberg is currently on paid administrative leave, according to KTBC-TV.

The morning-after pill doesn't terminate a pregnancy, but aims to prevent the implementation of a fertile egg, KVUE-TV reports. Austin Independent School District Police Captain Eric Mendez said that though the teacher believes she is helping a student, the decision-making falls on the parents.

Still, former students are supporting Steinberg, who is currently out on $15,000 bond and could face up to two years behind bars if found guilty of delivery of a dangerous drug.

According to KVUE, one student wrote, "If your teacher is not concerned ... shouldn't that be a problem? Don't prosecute her for simply doing her job."

While the LBJ High School student's access to Plan B was restricted by her lack of a prescription, those who meet the 17-year-old age requirement are still often denied access to the emergency contraceptive if they reside in low-income areas.

Teen pregnancy rates in these areas are high, and pharmacies there are just as likely to stock the drug as in other neighborhoods, but pharmacists in underprivileged areas are often misinformed about the law that makes Plan B available to those over the age of 17 without a prescription.

But at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, the recent addition of the morning after pill to campus vending machines has drawn attention from federal regulators. The move was made in an effort to provide students ease of access -- and the university did check all its records to confirm that every student enrolled is over the age of 17.

Comments

[nypoet22]

12:26 PM on 03/04/2012

giving a child prescription medication was unprofessional and very poor judgment. this teacher should definitely be sanctioned. because of the circumstances i think a felony charge is excessive.

[Ariel Bonzai]

01:05 PM on 03/02/2012

She used poor judgement, but clearly her intentions were pure. She did put students above herself, but should have realized she could end up in deep doodoo especially in TX. I have told students about plan b and other birth control methods when they ask about these or express fears about a recent encounter that may have left the female pregnant. I tell them where the free clinic is and warn them of stds, plan b's harmful side effects and their responsibility to use protection. I'm not encouraging sexual activity. These kids don't need anyone to convince them to do it. And convincing them not to do at all is a stupid approach to planned parenthood. I'd give my daughter the pill or plan b, and I may forgive a teacher who my kid trusted to tell when she was in trouble. I know this teacher has to give up her job but she shouldn't be ruined. She sounds like the type of teacher who makes a positive impact and she was honest about what she did,

[Ezzy666]

07:46 PM on 02/28/2012

I always have two or three Plan B packets in my closet next to my purses. All my friends know about them and are welcome to borrow any of my clothes or accessories. Whenever I notice that I don't have any I buy some more. I don't know how they "disappear" but I want to make to sure to have them available in case I ever need them.

[Cassandrawept]

06:18 PM on 02/11/2012

It was bad judgement because the student could get the morning after pill on her own. Also, it's hysterical and enabling behavior.

Given she was a math teacher and made such a bad judgement, it's possible that she's a little Ausbergers.

[chillis]

01:44 AM on 02/19/2012

Do you mean Aspergers? That's a major leap in logic.

It seems that she got caught up in trying to help a student and made an extremely poor choice. I would not equate that set of circumstances to an Aspergers diagnosis.

[Ariel Bonzai]

01:09 PM on 03/02/2012

I agree, but the photo and her lack of social facility make the hypothesis viable. Aspergers is a condition that make one different not impaired necessarily. I have worked with Aspergers and was very close to a man with it. These people are lovely and simple, not stupid by any stretch.

[lynninny]

09:21 AM on 02/11/2012

This is a sad situation, all around, but the right thing to do here was not to give un underaged girl prescription medication without her parents' knowledge. Maybe she could have offered to go to the girl's mother, with her?

[FaceTheTruth00]

03:18 AM on 02/11/2012

Many schools can't even give a child tylenol anymore without parental permission. Why on earth did this teacher think it was a good idea to get her student a pill she needed a prescription for, behind her parents' back?

The reason the whole thing came to light anyways, is because the student was having side effects and was concerned enough to finally tell her mother what was going on.

Odds are the side effects would not have been super-serious or fatal (very small chance of that), but the point is, this is a perfect example why you don't give a child an unfamiliar drug, then lay all the responsibility/fallout on the child to handle.

And then, when the child gets scared and seeks help from her mother -- as she absolutely should -- the teacher gets mad at the student and blames the student for getting her in trouble.

Hey teacher, you're the adult here, lady. You screwed up in putting this teenage girl in an unfamiliar position and left her to fend for herself once she took the medication. You took responsibility for yourself and the health of the teenage girl when you decided to give her medicine she was unable to obtain herself, which she was unfamiliar with, and behind her parents' back.

[karmabites2011]

04:31 PM on 02/10/2012

Really; you should have "snitched" her off to her mom instead of trying to help someone who asked for help.

Moral: Don't ever help anybody, you will just get jailed for it.

[Ariel Bonzai]

01:10 PM on 03/02/2012

Sad but true

[vtrob77]

03:56 PM on 02/10/2012

The morning after pill and other contraceptives should be easily available for any sexually active teenager or adult. Is it really a "dangerous drug", I mean tylenol can cause liver failure. It's available over the counter... Should the teacher have done it, no. Is it worthy of a felony, no. at most a misdemeanor.

[lukebandit]

04:48 PM on 02/17/2012

So happy she is being charged with a felony. Should be Capital Murder for killing that young girls baby! Life begins at CONCEPTION!

[sibyl9]

03:32 PM on 02/10/2012

Seriously bad judgment here. Teachers should never assume the role of the parent. Teachers are not the students' friend, either.

[rp2par]

03:35 PM on 02/10/2012

Good reminder about teachers not being the student's friend. That's not their role in society.

[Karissa36]

04:29 PM on 02/10/2012

True, but I hope she doesn't get in too much trouble. The teacher should have just given information about the morning after pill, the rules on how to obtain it, and phone numbers to the girl. You can bet these kids knew someone who was 17, and would buy it for her, and they would quickly figure that out on their own. Or they would call Planned Parenthood and get a prescription. The teacher just can't be involved in illegal activity.

By the way, Plan B is heavily advertised in teenage girl type magazines. I'm surprised the kids didn't already know about it.

[El Chingaso]

01:50 PM on 02/10/2012

Public schools just get more dangerous for kids...everyday.

[luapmi2]

05:19 AM on 02/10/2012

Give my child drugs at school and I am going to be on you like a rash.

Flush this one, twice.

[karmabites2011]

04:36 PM on 02/10/2012

Damn straight; they should only be getting drugs from the other kids.

[SeptimusDSX]

11:00 PM on 02/09/2012

Perhaps she could have taken the student to a physician to obtain a prescription. If I were the parent, I would have had something to say to the student (and the teacher, in private), but going to the police seems a bit excessive.

I also feel that it was the responsibility of the teacher to facilitate a dialog between the parents and the student before jumping the gun.

[luapmi2]

05:20 AM on 02/10/2012

"Excessive"....for reporting a felony?

You're kidding right?

[nypoet22]

12:33 PM on 03/04/2012

"felony" is a legal term that hasn't yet been proven to apply. i would certainly be angry at the woman for her poor judgment, but i'd want to talk to her personally before i pressed criminal charges.

[sks504]

11:00 PM on 02/09/2012

It looks like all the liberals are for teachers giving kids drugs, or is it just drugs you agree with?

[wca16]

11:46 PM on 02/09/2012

After 4 comments? Shame on you for jumping to conclusions.

[Dorothy Swart]

07:26 PM on 02/09/2012

Steinberg is a hero! My granddaughter goes to this school.

[luapmi2]

05:21 AM on 02/10/2012

Maybe your granddaughter can send her hero drugs while the hero is in the slammer.

[thelionrampant]

06:47 PM on 02/09/2012

I'm shocked by the comments here. Let's forget what the specific purpose of this pill is for a moment and focus on the facts. This teacher circumvented the law to provide a child with a medication with potentially dangerous side-effects without the knowledge or consent of the child's parent. Those are the facts. I'm wondering if the comments here would be so cavalier if this were a teacher who gave vicodin to a student who had come to her with a pulled muscle. I'm all for access to birth control, but teachers doling out pills to underage kids isn't the answer. Her intentions may have been good, but her actions were completely inappropriate.