Elected officials are calling for two Cartwright School District Board members to resign after they allegedly tried to sneak a box cutter onto campus at Maryvale High School on Monday, just a week after a fatal stabbing at the school left one student dead.
According to a statement from the Phoenix Union High School District, two women attempted to bring a box cutter through security at the high school, but they were stopped after going through the school’s weapon detection screening.
The district identified one woman as Lydia Hernandez, a Democratic state lawmaker and president of the Cartwright school board. According to the statement, the other woman did not identify herself but the district believes she was Cassandra Hernandez, Lydia Hernandez’s daughter and a fellow Cartwright board member.
Cartwright is an elementary school district that feeds into the Phoenix Union High School District, including Maryvale High School. The high school is also located within Rep. Lydia Hernandez’s legislative district.
According to the statement, the woman believed to be Cassandra Hernandez triggered the alarm on the weapons detector system. A search of her bag revealed the box cutter.
“The Maryvale High School Safety Team secured the box cutter, and a team member escorted both individuals out of the office, and off campus asking them to leave multiple times,” according to the district.
Lydia and Cassadra Herndanez did not respond to requests for comment and questions about their motives.
But Lydia Hernandez, who was recording the incident on her phone, told school staff she “was testing the weapon detection system.”
Calls to resign
The situation took place just a week after a Maryvale High student died after being stabbed by another student, who has been charged with murder.
Arizona officials from across the political spectrum have criticized the pair for taking it upon themselves to test security at the school after the incident.
“Their actions disrupted the fragile environment at Maryvale High School, were a blatant disregard for safety and school protocol, and were gravely insensitive to the students, families, and school staff still mourning the Maryvale student who died last week,” Phoenix Councilmembers Anna Hernandez and Betty Guarado said in a joint statement calling on both Lydia and Cassandra Hernandez to resign.
They added, “This behavior is incomprehensible, unacceptable, and likely illegal.”
Anna Hernandez, a former state senator, represented the same Maryvale-area legislative district that Lydia Hernandez currently represents before resigning to run for City Council.
Republican state Superintendent Tom Horne joined the resignation call.
“The safety of our campuses is an absolute priority. Security personnel and safety officers need to do their jobs, and they cannot be diverted from protecting the campus by a juvenile and unnecessary act such as this,” he said in a statement.
The incident also elicited criticism from Lydia Hernandez’s fellow Democrats at the state Legislature.
Sen. Analise Ortiz, a Democrat who also represents the Maryvale legislative district, called the actions “insensitive, insulting, and irresponsible.”
And House Democratic leaders issued a statement saying they have not yet had the opportunity to speak with Lydia Hernandez about the incident.
“However, it should go without saying that nobody — elected official or otherwise — should engage in such reckless and potentially criminal behavior on a school campus,” they wrote.
The district said it intends to “pursue all legal options, including pressing charges and trespassing the individuals from coming back on our campuses.”
