Lawsuit filed against BBH Schools over stolen medication

by Melissa Martin

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District is facing a lawsuit after a former school health clinic aide was found guilty of stealing prescription medication from elementary school students.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Cleveland in April, claims school administrators failed to provide safeguards to protect student medications left in the staff’s custody for dispensing throughout the day. It was filed by a parent whose child’s medication was stolen by former clinic aide Danielle Kovacs between 2021 and 2024.

The plaintiff accuses school officials of being “recklessly ignorant” of the theft, alleging the school had no consistent system for auditing medication inventories, verifying pill counts or ensuring that medication logs were accurate.

Backing up those claims was an audit of student medication conducted in January 2024, which revealed mismatched pills had been mixed inside prescription bottles, prompting the school district to launch an investigation.

Court records show that within a three-year time span, Kovacs, now 43, stole dozens of Adderall, Ritalin and other pills prescribed for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder from at least four students age 5 to 12. She replaced the stolen pills with medications that weren’t prescribed for the students. In some cases, she allegedly administered students antidepressants and other substitute pills in place of their prescribed drugs, placing medically vulnerable students in danger.

Kovacs also is said to have logged medications as being administered even on days when students were absent from school, the lawsuit alleges.

Kovacs was arrested in 2024 and charged in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. She ultimately pleaded guilty to one felony count of tampering with records and five felony counts of theft of drugs and was sentenced in January 2025 to two years in prison and was ordered to pay $6,156 in restitution to the parents of four of her victims.

The lawsuit charges that on at least two occasions, Kovacs administered an antidepressant to the plaintiff’s son instead of his regular ADHD medication. It also claims she gave other students antihistamines in place of their prescribed medications.

“This case centers on protecting the rights and well-being of our minor client, along with other children in the district that were similarly affected,” plaintiff’s attorney Michael Czak said in a statement. “The lawsuit aims to ensure accountability at all levels where responsibility is established so that the district takes the necessary steps to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

Brecksville-Broadview School District Superintendent Jeff Harrison says the district was notified of the lawsuit.

“We acknowledge that lawsuit, and we’re going to treat this with the due seriousness it deserves and follow the advice of our legal counsel at this point,” he said.

Photo caption: Danielle Kovacs