The Santa Ana Unified School District will host a virtual town hall this Thursday, May 22, to address safety issues at Santa Ana High School. The decision came after dozens of parents gathered outside the school and demanded better security measures and transparency, after a 14-year-old student was fatally stabbed and two others were injured on May 7.
Parents of Santa Ana High and Heninger Elementary students are invited to attend the online event, which will begin at 6 p.m. over Zoom. District spokesperson Fermin Leal said the event will address immediate safety concerns and other issues specific to Santa Ana High School, including long-term action plans for campus safety.
People can attend the meeting by clicking here.
Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and share relevant concerns with school staff and district personnel. Those attending will include the superintendent, the school principal, and the Chief of Police for the Santa Ana Unified School District.
The death of Armando Morales, 14, caused an uproar in the community, with some parents saying the student’s death could have been preventable had there been adequate safety measures in place.
Morales and two other teenage boys were stabbed in a parking lot shared with the school and Heninger Elementary. Police said Morales tried to intervene and help his friends during an altercation between two other students after class.
He died at the hospital, and the two suspects turned themselves in to police later that evening. Authorities believe the fight was due to gang-related issues, but confirmed that Morales was not gang-affiliated.
On May 12, at least 30 parents and several students protested outside the school, demanding justice for Morales and “más seguridad en las escuelas” (more security at schools).
Leal asks that at the town hall, participants only address concerns related to Santa Ana High School, not the district entirely, which has faced mounting criticism from the community over recent budget cuts and mass teacher layoffs.
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