PHOENIX — The Phoenix Union High School District is asking for help to identify a person who is accused of bringing a boxcutter onto campus in an incident involving State Representative Lydia Hernandez in August.
The district, in a news release, also apologized to Hernandez’s daughter, Cassandra, who the district first believed was with the state representative at the time of the incident.
Days after a Maryvale High School student died in a stabbing incident on campus, on August 27, the Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) reported that State Representative Lydia Hernandez and a woman entered the school campus with a boxcutter, alleging that Rep. Hernandez was recording the incident and trying to “circumvent” the high school’s safety system.
The district wrote in a statement in August that Hernandez (D-District 24) and another woman, who the district believed to be her adult daughter, “caused a disruption” by attempting to circumvent the school’s safety system by “knowingly bringing an unauthorized weapon onto campus." Hernandez has denied the allegations and said her daughter was not on the campus.
Since then, ABC15 spoke with both Rep. Hernandez and her daughter, Cassandra, both school board members in the Cartwright School District.
Cassandra told ABC15 she was working at the time of the incident. Both have said they were looking into pursuing legal options against the district.
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On Tuesday, the PXU issued a new statement, saying they’re working to identify the person who attempted to enter the school with Rep. Hernandez.
"PXU is unable to verify the identity of the accompanying individual, and we would like to apologize to Ms. Cassandra Hernandez for including her name in the original statement. We are asking the community to help us identify the person accompanying Ms. Lydia Hernandez onto campus that morning,” the statement read, in part.
Rep. Hernandez has denied recording the ordeal on camera, however, according to the district, "the state representative was holding the phone sideways, recording on her phone.”
The district provided footage that showed Rep. Hernandez holding a phone sideways and the camera app open as she walked through the weapons detector. However, it’s unclear if it was recording.
PXU officials said after this incident, they provided Rep. Hernandez with a formal trespass letter, telling her she is not to enter any PXU campuses for any reason without written approval by the district.
"Doing so will result in the district immediately contacting the Phoenix Police Department and formally pressing charges,” the release said.
The district also stated the investigation is ongoing, and it is working with police to identify the person who was with Rep. Hernandez.
ABC15 reached out to Rep. Hernandez for a response to the district’s new statement, but has not heard back.
Read the district's full statement below:
