Ex-Bryant school employee arrested in drug-fraud case

A former Bryant School District employee surrendered to authorities Wednesday after she was accused of forging a signature to obtain a drug that she said she was picking up for a student, police said.

Susan Kennedy, who worked for the Hornet Health Center at Bryant Elementary, went to the Medic Pharmacy in Bryant on May 21 to pick up Stadol, a synthetic opioid, according to a news release from the city’s Police Department.

Kennedy, 46, of Alexander, took with her an enrollment form that had all of a student’s Medicaid information and a separate page that included a parent’s signature granting the Hornet Health Center permission to pick up the student’s medication, the release said.

Police spokesman Sgt. Todd Crowson said the pharmacist contacted the student’s doctor, who said he had never prescribed Stadol for that student. The pharmacist refused to fill the prescription and reportedly contacted a Hornet Health Center employee, who called the police.

Authorities said Kennedy told investigators she called in the prescription and tried to pick it up. She also said she forged the signature on the form, the release said.

A Bryant School District spokesman said Kennedy submitted her letter of resignation on Friday.

Kennedy was charged with second-degree forgery and criminal attempt to obtain drugs by fraud. She was booked into the Saline County jail at 10 a.m. Wednesday and released later that day, records show.