Principal resigns; handcuffed little girl and forced "medication" in class

The Arizona Republic | December 12, 2005
By Lindsey Collom

An elementary school principal has resigned amidst allegations she and a school psychologist restrained a troubled 8-year-old and forced the child to take prescribed medication in front of her classmates.

Washington Elementary School District board members on Monday voted unanimously to accept Cherri Rifenburg's resignation. The board also met in executive session with legal council to discuss the fate of school psychologist Burke Bretzing, but no action was taken.

Rifenburg's lawyer, Kay Hunnicutt, said her client chose to resign to "provide stability" for faculty and staff at Lakeview Elementary School, which has been under scrutiny since the incident.
advertisement

Authorities said it began Nov. 15th when a woman called 911 to say she could not control her daughter. Phoenix police Officer William Buividas, 22, responded and handcuffed the girl with her mother's permission.

Buividas then escorted the woman as she drove her child to school. There, Rifenburg and Bretzing allegedly assisted the officer in restraining the girl as her third-grade classmates looked on. School administrators have acknowledged that the principal and psychologist forced the child to take prescribed medication.

An investigation to determine if Buividas used excessive force is ongoing. He remains on patrol.

Rifenburg and Bretzing were placed on paid administrative leave; neither had been back to work since.

Roni Snell, whose daughter is a former Lakeview student, said the incident "disgusts the heck out of me."

"It breaks my heart that a kid can get treated like that. There's got to be someone to speak for that 8-year-old girl," Snell said. "My concern as a parent - I've got a child in junior high. Is this going to happen while she's in school?"

District spokeswoman Karyn Morse said the child has not returned to class since the incident but officials hope to place her in another school "that is successful for her."

In a letter to the district's governing board president, Rifenburg said she would complete doctoral studies and plans to teach at the collegiate level. She will remain an employee until April 15, 2006, and serve in a capacity as determined by the superintendent.

Hunnicutt said her client is saddened by the situation and plans to issue a statement Tuesday.

"She's hurt," Hunnicutt said. "She really cares about kids."

<< HOME

Infowars.com is Copyright 2005 Alex Jones
Fair Use Notice: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go here. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.