Considering I have known him all of his life I would think that is a very good source that I would have had a conversation about the issues at AHS but would not be the only law enforcement official I would have spoken with. Two of my closest friends are attorneys that have defended AHS students over the last few years.
I can assure you that although I do not live in town I have continually supported the program in different ways.
Whether or not gang activity drove people away I do not know and have not written this but I can tell you that many of the people that I know that left the school, both parents and teachers, did so due to worsening discipline issues in addition to the loss of educational opportunities.
Ok so you know that discipline issues and loss of educational opportunities are way different than the what the statement said which was "gang activity has caused the downturn of AHS"?
You basically said what I have been saying btango. The downturn of AHS was the instability of AHS the past couple of years and the loss of resources pulled from the school. The instability had a direct impact on the increase of discipline issues. Ask anyone involved with AHS and see if the discipline issues increased or decreased over the past two years since the plans were announced.