Overview
- Deputies say Dontel Wright, 50, kicked a student with Down syndrome during a behavioral episode at Seabreeze High in Daytona Beach.
- An arrest affidavit states the teen hid under bleachers before Wright forcibly pulled him out, causing the student's head to whip backward, and he was then shoved to the floor.
- Police reported no injuries, and the student's parents told investigators they intend to press charges.
- Wright was booked on a charge of cruelty toward a child without great bodily harm and is listed by the county jail as being held without bond.
- Volusia County Schools reassigned Wright away from students and opened an internal review, and district records show two prior sustained cases since 2019, including a 2021 warning for slapping and 2025 discipline after shoving a student.