Citing Monday knife fight, Horne calls on Phoenix Union to add more officers

Incident at Carl Hayden High School shows need

PHOENIX – A knife fight between two female students at Carl Hayden High School Monday shows the Phoenix Union district board made a major mistake by denying the school’s request for an armed officer to be paid for by the Arizona Department of Education earlier this year.

Horne said, “The safety of students, teachers and staff members at schools is not negotiable and a knife fight on the Carl Hayden campus Monday shows the dangers are increasing. This needs to stop immediately. The Phoenix Union governing board needs to reverse a terrible decision they made earlier this year when they rejected requests from the leadership of both Carl Hayden and Betty Fairfax high schools for armed officers on campus.”

He explained, “Yesterday, Phoenix Police reported that two female Carl Hayden students were in a knife fight that resulted in injuries. This proves the need for armed officers and demonstrates the utter lack of concern by the members of the Phoenix Union government board who rejected the request for officers that had been endorsed by the two schools and district administration. It was an outrageous dereliction of responsibility, and the board needs to reconsider this matter immediately.”