DuVal High staff member on leave after alleged student assault

A DuVal High School staff member was placed on administrative leave after a student alleged a physical confrontation on campus in Lanham, a case now being handled as both a school-safety matter and a possible criminal investigation.

The family says the confrontation began after another student pepper-sprayed a friend of the girl who later spoke publicly. When she returned after getting help, she said a staff member blocked her path and the encounter escalated. In the student’s account, the staffer grabbed her by the hair and hoodie and slammed her to the ground. Her mother said she came forward because she did not want another child to go through the same thing.

Principal Dr. Denice Nabinett told DuVal families in an April 29, 2026 letter that a serious incident had occurred that day involving an altercation between a staff member and a student. She said the case involved an allegation of inappropriate physical contact and that such conduct, if substantiated, would be inconsistent with expectations for professionalism, student care and safety. Nabinett said the staff member was immediately placed on administrative leave and that the Prince George’s County Police Department was investigating.

Prince George’s County Public Schools said it was "deeply concerned" and said police had indicated criminal charges would be pursued. The district also said it would enforce all appropriate disciplinary measures under existing policies and procedures and that staff would be available to support students who need help processing what happened.

The response matters well beyond DuVal’s campus at 9880 Good Luck Road, where thousands of students attend one of the county’s larger comprehensive high schools and its Aerospace and Aviation program. When a school employee is accused of laying hands on a student, families are left watching two systems at once: the school system’s internal discipline process and the criminal justice system’s decision on whether to file charges.

Prince George’s County has seen this kind of scrutiny before. In 2019, a Largo High School teacher was arrested after a videotaped fight with a student, and the charges were later dropped in January 2020. That case fed a countywide debate over where school discipline ends, where staff accountability begins and how much protection students can expect when the adults in charge are accused of crossing the line.