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From left to right, CCUSD superintendent Dr. Tacy Ashby, district governing board member Stephanie Reese, Associate Superintendent Dr. Debbi Burdick, and Cactus Shadows High School principal Sid Bailey at a press conference Tuesday. The district called the conference after numerous requests for information from the local media in connection with an alleged incident of sexual misconduct by students at Desert Arroyo Middle School.
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School officials refuse to answer questions
by Kathleen Stinson

NORTH SCOTTSDALE – Despite holding a press conference, Cave Creek Unified School District officials would not answer questions posed by the press concerning allegations of students engaging in sexual misconduct at Desert Arroyo Middle School.

The alleged incident involves three teenage boys and 11 girls. Scottsdale police in October 2006 arrested two teenage males and they said recently they may soon file charges against a third teenage male.

Although they are saying very little, school district officials claim they are being up front and open as best as they can be about the allegations which have angered some parents and made headlines here and elsewhere.

School district officials, citing privacy laws, will not name names and they are not answering many of the questions being asked by the news media. In a press conference held on Tuesday, Superintendent Dr. Tacy Ashby read a prepared speech handed out to the media.

District spokeswoman Nedda Shafir said those speaking at the conference would not be taking questions and offered herself as a source for further assistance. However, Shafir did not give the media any new information when questioned after the conference.

At the conference, district spokeswoman Nedda Shafir said school officials won’t answer questions and Shafir herself did not give the media any additional information when questioned after the conference.

Ashby shared little information with the media that had not already been disseminated.

Ashby, and Cactus Shadows principal Sid Bailey, and district governing board spokeswoman Stephanie Reese, who also spoke, left quickly after the conference. Bailey and Reese spoke about Alert Recall.com, a Web site where students can give information anonymously.

At the conference, Kimberly Caldarazzo, who has a eighth‑ grade daughter at Desert Arroyo, asked if she could ask a question about a sexual misconduct incident. District representatives told her they were not taking questions.

Caldarazzo answered questions from the news media afterward.

With tears in her eyes, she said her daughter came home one day after school and said she had heard a rumor that a boy had flashed his penis in school.

Caldarazzo called the district to try to get more information.

“I’m not getting real information,” Caldarazzo said about the district’s statements to her.

She said she attended a meeting held on Oct. 19 by the district and that then the district did not give any details about the school incident, despite questions by parents.

She said she also contacted the mayor of Cave Creek and the governor’s office, and she does not plan to drop this.

“I want this to be addressed differently if it happens again,” Caldarazzo said of her efforts.

She said she does not know what the district may be trying to cover up.

In Ashby’s speech at the conference, she stated, “a teacher was removed from a classroom, and placed on leave with pay.

At this time there has been no disciplinary action taken against the teacher, pending the results of the investigation.”

When asked about this later that day, Shafir declined to comment, citing privacy issues. But she claimed the district is being forthright.

“We’re trying to be as up front and comprehensive as we can,” Shafir said.

In her speech, Ashby referred to an incident that took place Oct. 17, with no mention of a series of incidents as stated by Scottsdale Police Department spokesman Clark.

Ashby also said, “It deeply saddens me when students make choices that are inappropriate because it not only has a negative effect on them, but also on others. I want to go on record as telling you that at no time will any of our schools or the district tolerate any misbehavior of any kind by our students when it comes to our attention.”

In Ashby’s statement, she said the district is forming a Wellness 2007 Blue Ribbon Task Force Initiative to provide health, prevention and wellness information and to disseminate information about Alert Recall.com. She said the district is working on taking steps to ensure it is having open, honest communications with their students.

The following statement appears on the CCUSD Web site: “An incident occurred on October 17, 2006 at Desert Arroyo Middle School with students involved in using ‘inappropriate behavior’ towards other students on the school campus. As soon as the situation was brought to the attention of the school and district administration, they immediately began working with one of our School Resource Officers from the Scottsdale Police Department.”

Only two other relatives of students attending the school came to the press conference. They said they were not unhappy with the district’s handling of the incident or information.

Reach the reporter at kathleen@thedesertadvocate.com.

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