Phoenix school locked down after caller threatens students

Reported by: Christen Bejar
Email: cbejar@abc15.com 
Last Update: 3:37 pmDesert Vista High School was put on lockdown after a threatening phone call was received

PHOENIX – A south Phoenix high school was put on lockdown Tuesday after an anonymous phone call threatening the lives of students was made to the school.

Desert Vista High School, located at 16440 South 32nd Street, was locked down for about an hour and a half after an unknown person called the school and threatened to shoot students on the school field.

According to Phoenix Police spokesman James Holmes, school officials received the call and what sounded like an adult male claimed that he “had his eyes on the kids” and was going to being shooting if students didn’t get off the field.

School officials immediately placed the school on lockdown and called authorities to investigate.

Investigators reportedly couldn’t find anything on the campus.

The school lockdown was lifted at 10:30 a.m. and schools hours returned to normal.

An officer was placed on the campus as a precaution and another will be at the school all day Wednesday, Holmes said.

Desert Vista High School officials released a statement on Tuesday that identified what had occurred as well as the seriousness of such a threat.

“As you are aware, safety of our students and communication with our parents and our community are our top priorities,” the school stated.

Police continue to investigate the call.

Copyright 2009 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Report says performance of Arizona’s charter schools is mixed – washingtonpost.com

 Study finds that gains fall short of success in regular schools

By Nick Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 16, 2009

 SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Here, where suburb meets desert, students are clambering amid the cacti to dig soil samples and take notes on flora and fauna. In an old movie complex in nearby Chandler, others are dissecting a Renaissance tract on human nature. On a South Phoenix campus with a National Football League connection, still others are learning how to pass a basket of bread and help a lady into her chair.

These are just three charter schools among a multitude in the most wide-open public education market in America.

Arizona’s flourishing charter school movement underscores the popular appeal of unfettered school choice and the creativity of some educational entrepreneurs. But the state also offers a cautionary lesson as President Obama pushes to dismantle barriers to charter schools elsewhere: It is difficult to promote quantity and quality at the same time.

Under a 1994 law that strongly favors charter schools, 500 of them operate in this state, teaching more than 100,000 students. Those totals account for a quarter of Arizona’s public schools and a tenth of its public school enrollment, giving charters a larger market share here than in any other state.

But a Stanford University research institute reported in June that Arizona charter students did not show as much academic progress as their peers in traditional public schools. Charter backers dispute the study's methods and findings but agree that schools vary widely in quality.

“There are some excellent, excellent charter schools in Arizona,” said Margaret Raymond, director of …

more after the jump Report says performance of Arizona’s charter schools is mixed – washingtonpost.com.