Lawmaker accused of bringing box cutter to Maryvale High School to ‘test’ security system

PHOENIX — A week after a 16-year-old student was fatally stabbed at Maryvale High School, two public figures allegedly tried to bring a weapon onto campus, according to district officials.

Arizona Rep. Lydia Hernandez and her daughter, Cassandra Hernandez, allegedly tried to smuggle a box cutter into the school on Monday, according to the Phoenix Union High School District.

Hernandez both represents Arizona’s 24th Legislative District and serves as the governing board president of the Cartwright School District. Cassandra was elected in November to serve on that same governing board.

“The Maryvale High School Safety Team secured the box cutter, and a team member escorted both individuals out of the office and off-campus,” the district said in a Wednesday announcement.

Details of alleged Lydia Hernandez incident at Maryvale High School

The Phoenix Union High School District said it might pursue legal action against the pair for their alleged actions on Monday.

“We will pursue all legal options, including pressing charges and trespassing the individuals from coming back to our campuses,” the district said in the announcement.

School officials accused Hernandez of filming herself and her daughter Cassandra entering through the detectors and activating alarms. The state lawmaker also recorded the safety team and asked questions about the system settings, according to the district.

“An immediate secondary search took place on the bag believed to be owned by Cassandra Hernandez, and a box cutter was found inside,” according to the announcement.

The security team confiscated the item, at which point Rep. Hernandez allegedly said she was testing the weapon detection systems.

The school official who escorted the mother and daughter had to ask them to leave multiple times, according to school officials.

Officials call on mother and daughter to resign after controversy

Now, Phoenix City Councilmembers Betty Guardado and Anna Hernandez are calling for the two women to resign from their positions.

“Their actions disrupted the fragile environment at Maryvale High School, were a blatant disregard for safety and school protocol, and were gravely insensitive to the students, families, and school staff still mourning the Maryvale student who died last week,” Guardado and Hernandez said in a Wednesday statement.

“The choice to target a school still reeling from trauma speaks volumes about their judgment and priorities as leaders. Such actions jeopardize the safety of students and staff alike, showing an alarming lack of responsibility and failure as public officials.”

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne joined the calls for the mother and daughter to resign from their school board positions.

“This was an outrageous and indefensible stunt. For two school board members, one who is also a state legislator, to deliberately provoke a security disruption at a school is unconscionable,” Horne said in a statement Thursday. “To do it at Maryvale High School where a student was tragically murdered in a classroom just a week earlier is unbelievably insensitive to the trauma that was inflicted on the students, teachers and staff of that school.”

Potential concerns about Maryvale High School weapons detection system

On Tuesday, a former teacher at the school district told KTAR News 92.3 FM that there were concerns over the school’s weapons detection system.

How did a pocketknife make it past security at Maryvale High School before 16-year-old Michael Montoya II was fatally stabbed?

According to Theresa Pulido, a former teacher at the district the school was in, administrators had asked security officers to lower the sensitivity on… pic.twitter.com/4NTmpftHcP

— KTAR News 92.3 (@KTAR923) August 26, 2025

Theresa Pulido joined the studio a week after 16-year-old Michael Montoya II was fatally stabbed in a classroom at Maryvale High School.

Another 16-year-old, Chris Aguilar, was arrested and accused of killing Montoya with a pocketknife, according to the Phoenix Police Department.

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