A family in Vermont is dealing with the aftermath of a horrifying incident that happened at school. In September 2025, an elementary school student was having fun on the playground at Rick Marcotte Central School in South Burlington, Vermont, when the youth somehow found a discarded syringe. The used needle poked the young student, raising concerns about playground safety.
Of course, community members were disgusted by the incident. After all, elementary school kids should not have to worry about looking out for dirty needles during recess. South Burlington Interim School Superintendent Joe Clark acknowledged this but also admitted that, unfortunately, what happened to this particular child is not all that rare.
“It absolutely should not be incumbent upon a kid who’s going out to play recess to be worried about finding a needle,” Clark said, per WCAX. “I’ve been on the job seven days, but what I’ve learned is that it has not been necessarily uncommon for the school periodically to find discarded needles from drug users.”
Initially, after the poor student was poked by the discarded needle, school staff spoke to students about playground safety. They also encouraged parents to do the same. Per WCAX, the students were told to not touch anything sharp or unusual on the playground and to tell an adult about anything strange they see.
But on social media, some people were disgusted by this response. “So it’s the parents failing to not teach their elementary school children to be careful at the playground that are at fault instead of the piles of human garbage who are tossing needles into a school yard?” one person wrote on Reddit in response.
According to Clark, staff members already periodically pick up needles on the playground. In this case, however, the needle the student found was in a tree, which might explain why staff members missed it.
Near the playground, on the other side of the fence, is an area with several businesses, including a McDonald’s. Employees at McDonald’s told WCAX that they’re aware people sometimes do drugs in the fast food restaurant’s parking lot.
The incident is reportedly under investigation. Though it’s not clear how the used needle ended up on the playground, South Burlington Acting Police Chief Sean Briscoe told WCAX that the needle might’ve come from the business area on the other side of the fence.
