School misconduct case sparks student walkout

Dozens of Apache Junction High School students walked off campus Thursday to protest the administration’s handling of misconduct allegations against a school security officer.

The students said they staged the noon protest — despite threats of suspension from administrators — because they wanted their voices to be heard.

The students said administrators ignored early warnings about the security officer and then retaliated against another security officer who went public with concerns about his colleague’s behavior.

One parent told the Tribune the first security guard hugged her 16-year-old daughter and patted her on the backside despite protests from the girl. She also said the security officer tried to persuade her daughter to go off-road driving with him.

The Tribune is not identifying the girl and the parent to protect the teen’s identity.

The girl said she was afraid to come forward, but wrote an anonymous note and dropped it off in the school office in November to alert administration to the security officer’s behavior.

The girl’s mother said the inappropriate behavior occurred over time and began at least two months ago, but her daughter did not report the behavior to her until Jan. 11 . She said they went to police Tuesday after thinking over how to proceed.

Another student said the same security guard also invited her to go “four-wheeling” with him.

“He was nice but just too nice,” said Therese Gould, 17. “I thought he was creepy.”

The Apache Junction Unified School District has placed the security officer on paid leave while it investigates the allegations. District spokeswoman Carol Shepherd declined to elaborate on the allegations or identify the security officer under investigation.

Will McElroy, another security officer at the school, said the district also placed him on leave after he complained about his colleague and then expressed frustration with the district’s slow response.

Calls to the district to confirm McElroy’s suspension were not returned.

Superintendent Greg Wyman responded to a grievance filed by McElroy on Dec. 10 alleging principal Marla Zimmerman received complaints from McElroy and other employees about a security guard behaving inappropriately toward female students and did not properly investigate him.

In a letter to McElroy dated Dec. 17, Wyman stated, “With respect to your grievance that alleged Mrs. Zimmerman was in violation of several Governing Board Policies for failing to conduct an investigation about alleged conduct by another employee, I do not find evidence of Mrs. Zimmerman did not conduct an investigation.”

In the letter, Wyman indicated he had reviewed 12 incident reports and a memo about concerns raised by school employees.

Wyman refused to speak with reporters at the high school Thursday and asked the Tribune to leave the property.

Student Jesse Rubio, 15, said he left campus to show support for McElroy.

“I think it’s unfair that he got suspended for telling the truth,” Rubio said. “Because that’s what the school always tells us to do — tell the truth.”

At least four Apache Junction police officers monitored Thursday’s peaceful protest. Shepherd said police also are investigating the allegations of inappropriate behavior against the first security officer to determine if any of his actions were criminal.

Betty Swanson, a spokeswoman for the district, said an announcement was made over the intercom at the high school Thursday afternoon by Zimmerman, thanking the students who stayed in class and “did not disrupt the school day.”

Swanson said the announcement warned the students who walked out that there “will be consequences,” but she could not say if that meant they would be suspended.