Mother demands answers after 6-year-old found intoxicated at school

The unanswered question facing one Prince George’s County mother is how her 6-year-old daughter ended up intoxicated at Princeton Elementary School, then stumbled in the nurse’s office and became unresponsive. The child was later hospitalized with alcohol poisoning, turning a frightening school-day episode into a serious safety and medical case at the Suitland campus that serves children from pre-K through fifth grade.

According to the mother’s account, video from the nurse’s office showed the child stumbling before she stopped responding. That sequence matters because it points to a possible poisoning, not a routine disciplinary problem or a vague wellness concern. In a child that young, alcohol exposure can escalate quickly, and the mother has said she does not believe the alcohol came from home.

Prince George’s County Public Schools said staff responded promptly and followed established emergency protocols to get the student appropriate medical care. The district also notified Child Protective Services, a step that fits the system’s reporting rules when suspected abuse or neglect may be involved. Board Policy 0127 requires employees, contractors and volunteers to report suspected abuse or neglect immediately to Child Protective Services, with written follow-up within 48 hours.

But the core questions remain unanswered for families in Suitland and across Prince George’s County. How did alcohol enter Princeton Elementary, at 6101 Baxter Drive? Did the drink come from another student, from a bag, from a container left unsecured, or from some other gap in supervision? When did staff first notice that something was wrong, and how quickly was the family told that a 6-year-old had become ill enough to need emergency care? Those are the details that will determine whether this was an isolated accident or a breakdown in supervision.

The district’s own rules say alcohol has no place on school property. Board Policy 0129 prohibits the use of alcohol, tobacco products and drugs on school grounds. The child’s age and symptoms make the case especially alarming. Poison Control warns that alcohol can be a dangerous poison for children and can cause seizures, coma and death, while the American Academy of Pediatrics says poisoning should be suspected in any child with unexplained changes in vital signs or altered mental status.

For Princeton Elementary, the case is now bigger than one nurse’s office and one family’s panic. It raises a broader question for Prince George’s schools: whether the district’s health-response system can catch a child in crisis fast enough, and whether its supervision and reporting practices are strong enough to prevent another elementary school emergency from reaching the same point.