Tom Horne advised 2 Phoenix-area schools to remove a club they didn't have

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne accused two Phoenix-area schools of hosting an organization he said distributes antisemitic materials to students.

But school leaders say there’s a fundamental flaw in Horne’s accusation: The human rights advocacy organization at the center of his concern, Amnesty International, is not an active club on either campus.

In two letters dated May 15, which the Arizona Department of Education publicly released a day later, Horne called for the superintendents at Hamilton High School in Chandler and Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek to remove Amnesty International from their campuses.

Horne’s letters were prompted by “a web notification” that listed Hamilton and Cactus Shadows among schools with an Amnesty International presence on campus, according to department spokesperson Doug Nick.

But subsequent email exchanges with Chandler Unified School District Superintendent Frank Narducci and Cave Creek Unified School District Superintendent Bill Dolezal revealed those clubs were no longer active and that the districts were not aware of any Amnesty International material being distributed, Nick said.

Education Department officials did not contact either district to confirm the facts before issuing public letters, according to district leaders.

“In the future, I would greatly appreciate you reaching out to me directly if you are apprised of information that is concerning,” Dolezal wrote in a response letter. “That way, you can be assured that you are not publishing information or otherwise publicizing incorrect or misleading information.”

Horne to change ‘best practice’ on statements involving school districts

Dolezal said Horne “received incorrect information” and that Horne should work with him in the future to ensure schools “are not unnecessarily portrayed in a negative light.”

Nick said the department found information on both schools’ websites about Amnesty International clubs prior to sending the letters. The districts removed that information shortly after Horne’s letter, Nick said.

After exchanging emails with the superintendents on the matter, Horne “agreed the best practice going forward” is to confirm the details of an allegation directly with district superintendents, Nick said.

This isn’t the first time Horne has been called out for leveling allegations against school districts that were later debunked.

During a June 2023 news conference, Horne touted three examples in which his Empower Hotline — a platform for parents to report instruction they believe detracts from teaching academics — identified problems. Spokespeople with the three involved districts said nobody at the department contacted them about the allegations before they saw them in the news.

One finding involved a Chandler Unified Gay-Straight Alliance Club that allegedly distributed emancipation paperwork to students. Spokesperson Stephanie Ingersoll said that never happened, nor was there any evidence to suggest it had.

Horne told Scottsdale Unified to kick Amnesty International off campus

Horne urged schools across the state in November to kick two clubs off campus after students at a Scottsdale high school presented material he considered antisemitic at a joint meeting.

About 80 Desert Mountain High School students attended a gathering of UNICEF and Amnesty International clubs where students presented about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The student presentation claimed Israel engaged in human rights violations against Palestinians, which Horne described as antisemitic.

The material also failed to adequately cover Oct. 7, he said, when Israeli civilians were murdered during an attack carried out by Hamas militants.

Horne referenced the Scottsdale incident in his letters to Dolezal and Narducci last week.

“Any organization that perpetuates hate should not have a home at any school,” Horne wrote. “Some people have raised a question about whether that violates people’s rights. If there was an anti-black, Ku Klux Klan student grouping formed, no one would hesitate to ban that group from its campus. The same should apply here.”

Dolezal said neither student club advisers nor students at Cactus Shadows received the material from Amnesty International that Horne referenced in his letter. Ingersoll said the same was true for Hamilton.

“There was no presentation by Amnesty International at Hamilton High School, therefore we are not in possession or aware of any such type of materials that Mr. Horne references,” Ingersoll said. “Due to the fact that Amnesty International is not an active club on campus, we are not aware of any of our high school students adopting such ideals.”

Both districts said they denounce hate speech in all forms.

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Reach the reporter at nicholas.sullivan@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Horne asked 2 schools to remove Amnesty International clubs