Tempers boil over, following racial incident at Chandler junior high school

CHANDLER, Ariz. (KSAZ) - Tempers boiled over at a Chandler Unified School District meeting Wednesday night, as parents and students from Santan Junior High School expressed anger about what they considered a racist incident at the school.

The controversy originated from an online video that has been circulating throughout the school. The video allegedly shows white students using racially charged language. Since then, parents said no discipline have been handed out.

"We're telling you that there is a collective menace in our schools, and nothing is being done," said Roy Tatem with East Valley NAACP. "Well, maybe the menace doesn't look like who you think the menace should look like, and that's why there's been no action."

On Wednesday night, parents and the district went head-to-head.

That meeting was still going on, as of 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. 90 minutes into the meeting, the Board's president, Annette Auxier, even left the meeting.

"I will be watching this," said Auxier, during the meeting, as a speaker from the podium accuse her of taking up his time. "I trust our board members."

Auxier, citing a college class, left the meeting, leaving parents who want answers stunned. Auxier was later seen, in tears.

Meanwhile, parents continued to voice their concerns.

"This is absolutely not how this is supposed to be handled," said Amber Hutchinson, a parent of a Santan Junior High School student.

"These board members, because they're the ones who ultimately make the decision to enforce the policies, have decided that only select groups of students get that type of environment," said Janelle Wood with the Black Mother's Forum.

Four weeks following the incident, parents are still waiting for a response.

Board member David Evans tried to ease the tension, using his personal experiences from the 1960s. It didn't satisfy the crowd, who was demanding answers.

"We're not talking about implementing the policy," said Tatem. "We're not talking about creating the policy. We are talking about enforcing a policy that is already on the books."

The board did pass a resolution, saying they would look at training and possible improvements in race relations between the students, as well as adding more cultural diversity within classrooms. Some parents, however, believe it is not going far enough.