A recent knife fight at Carl Hayden High School has prompted Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne, to urge the Phoenix Union district board to reconsider their decision against having armed officers on campus. The incident involved two female students and resulted in injuries, highlighting concerns about school safety.
Horne criticized the board’s earlier decision to deny a request for an armed officer funded by the State of Arizona Department of Education. He 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 Police Department reported that the altercation between the students occurred on Monday. Horne emphasized that this incident underscores the necessity for armed officers in schools and accused the Phoenix Union governing board of neglecting their responsibilities by rejecting previous requests from Carl Hayden and Betty Fairfax high schools for such security measures.
He added, “It was an outrageous dereliction of responsibility, and the board needs to reconsider this matter immediately.”
