Sep 27, 4:26 AM EDT


Racial tensions brew at Tucson high school


TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Racial tensions are brewing at one Tucson high school, with black and Hispanic students squaring off on two occasions and threatening text messages circulating among the student body.

The troubles at Palo Verde High Magnet School began Wednesday when about 100 black and Hispanic students yelled at each other and threatened to fight during lunch and after school.

On Thursday, text messages circulated among students saying guns were going to be at the school and warning people to stay home.

As a result, a half-dozen police cars cruised the area around the 1,500-student school on Friday. Principal Tina Isaac canceled a homecoming pep assembly, tightened up who gets hall passes, and sent a letter home to parents telling them about increased security on campus.

Isaac said the friction does not seem to be gang-related and no weapons were found on campus during investigations throughout the day. About 10 students were suspended, she said.

She said she's surprised at the hostility.

"Our kids are really fantastic, and what's sad is that this has really put our school in a bad light. That hasn't happened since I've been here," said Isaac, who has been principal for three years.

Amanda Burfield, a 17-year-old student who is new to the school and likes it, said she thought the response was a bit of an overreaction. The trouble was rooted in a small group of students but not in the campus as a whole, she said.

Several parents interviewed said they knew nothing about what was happening at the school, even though Palo Verde has a system that issues text messages, e-mails and phone calls to parents if their child is tardy or absent or if the school has any announcements.

Isaac said the alerts went out Friday instead of Wednesday to give the school time to investigate.

She said the school may have campus-wide discussions on race and administrators are working to mediate the problems among some students.

"Things are calm right now," Isaac said. "We're hoping it's resolved, but we know we have a lot of work to do in mending the relationships between these kids, and that won't happen overnight."

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