Calls for changes following Phoenix HS fight
An attack involving multiple incidents happened on Oct. 1 at Carl Hayden High School, which forms part of the Phoenix Union High School District, and in the aftermath of the incident, a member of the school board is calling for school resource officers to be brought back onto all campuses. FOX 10’s Kenzie Beach reports.
PHOENIX – Another violent incident has taken place within the Phoenix Union High School District, and this incident, which happened at Carl Hayden High School, sent several kids to the hospital.
What we know:
The latest incident happened on Oct. 1 at the high school’s courtyard. It reportedly involved five students, and the incident was filmed by other students.
A video of the incident has circulated on the cell phones of parents and students with the school, and it shows a brutal attack between multiple high schoolers, leaving one student in a pool of blood, his body visibly convulsing.
The Oct. 1 incident happened less than a month after a student was stabbed to death at Maryvale High School.
Maricopa County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs called the attacks “unacceptable and deeply concerning.” In a statement, Boggs said in part, “School should be a place for learning, not an environment where students live in fear, and every parent deserves confidence that their child is protected. Students cannot achieve their full potential if they are constantly worried about violence or disruption.”
“My fears are just like the parents’: is the kid going to come home safe at the end of the day? And I frankly can’t answer that in an honest way,” said Jeremiah Cota, a Phoenix Union High School District board member. “That didn’t happen in Maryville. [On Oct. 1] that kid was bleeding out on the courtyard.”
What’s next:
In an effort to curb violence on high school campuses in the district, Cota says school resource officers are needed, but the board has denied this request multiple times.
“There is no school resource officer on that campus. There’s no school safety officer on that campus,” Cota said. “I have confirmed that with the superintendent.”
Carl Hayden is one of two high schools that have requested school resource officers over the last year. The board repeatedly voted to deny state-funded officers. Cota is calling for his fellow board members to prioritize the students.
“We have what’s called a duty of care by Arizona Revised Statute,” Cota said. “That is law that says our district must keep our kids safe in the classroom and while on school property. That is not happening here, action has to take place.”
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