The principal of Arroyo Seco Junior High School was arrested on a DUI charge after a crash Wednesday night, according to Sheriff’s Station officials.

Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking Santa Clarita news alerts delivered right to your inbox.

Rhondi Durand, 56, of Canyon Country, was arrested Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m., said Detective Brad Thompson of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

Durand was stopped at the corner of Jakes Way and Sierra Highway, after the two-door Lexus she was driving hit a parked car near that intersection, Thompson said.

“There was a crash at 7:15 (p.m.),” he said. “It was a vehicle into a parked car.”

Durand had a clean record prior to Wednesday night’s arrest, according to Sheriff’s Department records, Thompson said.

“I don’t see anything on her driver’s history that shows any kind of priors or anything like that,” Thompson said.

An official with the William S. Hart Union High School District said district officials are still gathering information on the incident and did not want to rush to judgment.

“We have to make sure we follow the letter of the law before we make any assumptions,” said Hart district board President Joe Messina.

“In some cases, we can put people on leave until we can find out what’s going on, but we able to be careful as to how we handle it,” Messina said.

Durand has been with the district for 17 years, according to Hart district spokeswoman Gail Pinsker.

The Hart district oversees junior highs and high schools in the Santa Clarita Valley, and has approximately 23,000 students.

“We have been in contact with the SCV Sheriff’s Dept regarding the arrest of one of our junior high principals for an alleged driving violation,” according to a statement by Rob Challinor, Hart district superintendent.

“The district can confirm that this alleged incident occurred after hours and is not connected in any way to a school or district event or activity,” the statement read. “This is a personnel issue currently under review, and we will provide updates as information becomes available.”

Durand was booked at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station and her bail was listed at $5,000.

Arroyo Seco Junior High School, which is located at 27171 N. Vista Delgado Drive, is a seventh- and eighth-grade school that has approximately 1,200 students.

It had an API score of 863 in 2012, which exceeded the state’s goal of 800 for all schools. The scale, which is a state metric for measuring school achievement, is based on a scale of 1-1,000.

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.

[node:title]

Article: [node:title]
Source: Santa Clarita News
Author: [node:author]