A July 18 trial date has been set for the Ritchie Park Elementary School principal charged with second-degree assault for allegedly stomping on a student’s foot in February, according to charging documents.
On Monday, Rockville City police issued an arrest warrant for Andrew Winter, 54, of North Potomac. Winter, who has been on leave from the Rockville school since February, turned himself in and was charged with one count of second-degree assault, police said in a statement. According to court documents, Winter posted a $1,500 bond Tuesday.
Attempts to reach Winter on Tuesday and Wednesday via email and phone calls were unsuccessful. No attorney information was listed in court records.
According to charging documents, on Feb. 9 police received a call from the school about the alleged assault involving Winter and a student at the school at 1514 Dunster Road. Upon investigating, a detective determined an incident took place that day during lunchtime and was captured on school video footage.
The charging documents state that video footage of the incident “clearly showed” Winter wearing a green football jersey with his last name on the back of the shirt and the student standing close to the principal.
In the footage, Winter can be seen conversing with the student and then grabbing the student by their clothing and “physically sitting them down” on a bench, according to charging documents. Then Winter, who was standing over the student, lifted his left foot and stomped it onto the student’s right foot, “causing them to immediately start weeping,” the documents said.
As the student continued to weep, Winter sat down on the bench next to the victim and put his arm around their shoulders, the documents stated.
According to charging documents, two other students witnessed the incident and reported it to their teacher, who then reported the information to the school’s assistant principal. The assistant principal contacted the police, who responded to the school and met with the student and their father. Police interviewed the student who stated that Winter stomped on their foot, the documents said.
Based on the reviewed video footage and an investigation, Winter was charged with second-degree assault, the documents said.
Winter, who is the founder of the Montgomery County Jewish Educators Alliance, has been on leave from the school since February. In a Monday letter to the Rockville school’s community, Montgomery County Public Schools notified families of Winter’s arrest.
“As we have communicated previously, Mr. Winter has been and remains on leave from the school,” wrote Tamitha Campbell, a director of the MCPS Office of School Support and Well-Being. “It is crucial to understand that when any employee is on leave (for any reason) it is considered a personnel matter and by law what can be shared is limited.”
Ritchie Park PTA President Amy Haddad said Monday the school community was “shocked by the news.”
Haddad told MoCo360 that Winter left the school with little explanation from the district and in late February the school’s assistant principal, Tracy Tibbs, had been assigned to serve as the acting principal.
According to Haddad, a Feb. 26 email from MCPS was the first time she and other families had been notified of Winter’s leave. She said it was frustrating how MCPS handled the process and that she had “tried over the past few months to get more information and updates.”
“There’s been a lack of clear communication from the beginning and that has led to a lot of confusion,” she said.
On Monday Ritchie Park families were notified in a letter from Sean McGee, acting associate superintendent of the Office of School Support and Well-Being, that Winter would not be returning to the school. MCPS would begin the selection process for a new principal, the letter said.