Alta High incident overblown, friends, parents of accused student say

The recent events have caught the attention of people beyond the Wasatch Front. The Department of Justice contacted Canyons officials and offered help and assistance in "making sure that we have a school and a school community that is free from discrimination," Toomer-Cook said.

The district has invited representatives from the DOJ's community outreach department to make a presentation to the school board next week.

"We would be very interested in hearing from them," Toomer-Cook said.

There was no indication of how long the district investigation will take, Toomer-Cook said, or when the school's principal and vice principal will be brought back. But in the meantime, the district plans on taking other proactive action, as detailed in the district's open letter. Officials plan on meeting with every Language Arts class in the district to discuss their role in creating a safe school environment as well as informing them of their duty to alert administrators of civil right violations.

Contributing: Jennifer Stagg

E-mail: mfarmer@desnews.com