A 17-Year-Old Student With a Disability Was Chased, Forced to the Ground, Restrained, and Arrested at School.
It Was Preventable.
“When you send your child to school, you expect them to be safe—not for something like this to happen.”
— Tireese Winfield
From Classroom to Crisis
A routine classroom interaction over a cell phone at Potomac High School in Dumfries, VA, turned into a violent, life-altering incident for a 17-year-old student with a documented emotional disability. Instead of using de-escalation or disability-informed supports, school staff called in security and a School Resource Officer (SRO), escalating the situation.
The student was chased down a hallway, slammed into a wall, forced to the ground, handcuffed, placed in leg restraints, and taken to juvenile detention—despite crying out in pain and posing no serious threat. What should have been handled as a behavioral support issue became a traumatic arrest, highlighting the dangers of police involvement in school discipline.
What Needs to Change Now
This petition demands immediate action from the Prince William County School Board to prevent this from happening again. It calls for urgent amendments to the School Board’s agreement with law enforcement to:
- Prohibit SRO involvement in routine school discipline
- Require disability-specific training and de-escalation practices
- Ensure responses align with students’ IEPs and legal protections
- Establish clear safeguards to stop the use of force, restraint, and arrest for non-criminal behavior
The petition seeks to safeguard students, prevent the criminalization of students with disabilities, and bring the district into compliance with federal law.
