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A school vitamin program stirs up controversy at a Boise elementary school, but the district says it's all a big misunderstanding.

On Tuesday, children at Monroe Elementary School in Boise were sent home with bottles of vitamins.

Lisa Greenfield, a daycare provider says she was shocked when three kindergarteners came back from school with the vitamins. “We got in the car and one student asked me if we could eat these for snack. I took the vitamins, and I told them they are not candy," said Greenfield.

Greenfield says her sole concern is the children’s health and well being. "A lot of kids will look at vitamins as candy because they look like candy, taste like candy,” she said, “However, they can get sick from too many vitamins. I just took the vitamins and locked them up in my office."

The vitamins came with an advertising flyer to a local pharmacy. Ladd Family Pharmacy in Boise sent Today’s 6 News this message:

"We are happy to adjust the program in any way to address any concerns, and apologize if this has caused any issues."

Many parents say they also called the school and expressed their concerns. The Boise School District says the vitamins were supposed to be given to the students, only after getting permission from the parents. 

However, a new employee unfamiliar with the procedure sent a total of 47 students home with the vitamins.

“The employee is extremely sorry for any inconvenience they may have caused the parents,” said Boise School District Spokesperson Dan Hollar, “the school has been in the process of notifying each of the parents of these children, who were provided these vitamins to explain what happened."

The school district says this program of dispensing vitamins to children has been going on in the district for years without a problem, until now.

The spokesman for Boise Schools says the district has temporarily shut down the program, until it can make sure this won't happen again.