Everything is Just Fine in PUSD

Unhinged behavior? Check.

Happy May, Secular Fam! Where has the time gone? It feels like just yesterday school boards across the state were reorganizing and electing new leadership, and now here we are, mid-May! Teachers are packing up their rooms, HR directors are scrambling to fill vacancies, kids are preparing for finals and graduation, and the parents are…

…focused on children’s genitalia. Well, not all parents.

And c’mon, we know that most of these creepy groomers don’t even have kids in the districts where they deliver their sermons speeches (which should probably make all of us worry about these weirdos).  

So for as long as these Puritanical Private Parts Police keep showing up, I will too.

Well, actually, I’ll tune in from home. And for this meeting, I had a houseguest, so we had a good time MST3King this meeting, and I’ll be including some of his observations. So let’s jump right into this Peoria (PUSD) meeting from May 9, 2024.

According to folks on the scene, it was standing room only because they were celebrating various students and athletic teams from across the district. The meeting started with a budget revision presentation, about how the budget is being reduced by about a million dollars because of a decrease in Average Daily Membership (ADM). 

Essentially, this means declining enrollment, and when you have a board member and religious zealots calling all parents to remove their kids and utilize funds from the runaway Arizona voucher program, this isn’t surprising. 

Board Member Rooks is still upset that comments have been moved to later in the meeting, and made a motion that they be moved to the beginning of the meeting. Her motion didn’t get a second. 

After her failed motion, it was time for student recognitions. First up was recognition for a PUSD student who is also the recipient of the Flinn Scholarship. Secular Fam, this is a VERY prestigious scholarship. It is a full-ride that includes housing and everything. The PUSD recipient of this scholarship is none other than Mikah Dyer, who just happens to be running for an open seat on the PUSD board this election year.

A bunch of homo/transphobic adults in the district have already attacked this young man, and one person, whose Instagram page says that she is a “servant to the Most High” and “living out loud for JESUS” accused a current student in the district of being a pedophile and said the most un-Christian things about him because of course she did. 

So, this behavior isn’t “Christian,” it’s “Christian nationalism.” Christian nationalists are in a cult where they are cool with a guy who has been found guilty of rape, cheated on all of his wives, and regularly fantasizes about having sex with his own daughter.

But they get big mad at a Flinn Scholar who believes all students deserve respect and acceptance. 

The board lavished him with praise, including Board Member Rooks. Which was extra sweet, since she’s already disparaged him online, and in the past, has called her buddy, Mayor Jason Beck, anytime she has an angry. 

Next were athlete recognitions, and it was great. It was wholesome, positive, and lovely, and I appreciated that President Proudfit noticed that not all the kids were recognized so she made sure they got their moment in the spotlight. 

I gotta admit, y’all, I like her. She seems like a genuinely kind person. I mean, she was a Disney princess for crying out loud. Disney characters have to be like, NICE to all the people at the park and stay in character. I’d be terrible at it. 

Board members had a chance to praise the student athletes, and President Proudfit told the students that they were welcome to leave, but also welcome to stay. 

I kind of wish that the next time there is a student-centered recognition, she explicitly invites them to stay. Something along the lines of, “You’re welcome to leave, but I encourage you to stay. The adults in this room discuss and vote on topics that directly affect you, and school boards are the perfect microcosm of democracy, blah, blah, blah.” A girl can dream, can’t she? 

After the student recognitions, PUSD retirees were recognized. 

The next section of the agenda was board comments, and all of them were positive and normal except for one board member, who once again, came out against President Biden’s recent changes to Title IX policy. 

ICYMI, the Biden Administration came out with some changes to Title IX. I looked them over, and the three biggest changes I noticed expand protections for sexual assault survivors, LGBTQ+ students, and pregnant people. A bunch of MAGA governors are coming out against these new protections, so of course, Board Member Rooks is too. 

The homo/transphobia and obsession with other peoples’ genitalia amongst these folks is so strong that they’re coming out against sexual assault survivors and pregnant people! But WE’RE the creepy weirdos? Cool, cool. 

TBH, I wish President Proudfit would have Board Member Rooks go first when it’s time to weigh in, so the crowd would be left with nothing but positivity. Get her terrible takes out of the way first, and then we can hear from the actual pro-public education advocates who truly care about public service. 

That said, President Proudfit seems to get her role as president, and always contextualizes the work she does on the board. I’m not mad. 

Dr. Somers gave his update which was also positive, so that was nice. I hope he’s feeling good about his decision to join PUSD. 

The next agenda item had to do with an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with a bunch of school districts so they can efficiently share resources and ideas. I think this kind of agreement is great because Arizona has a LOT of districts, and Maricopa County has 58. These types of agreements allow districts to pool resources, collaborate, and to work smarter, not harder. Since the Arizona legislature seems hell-bent on destroying public education, the districts have gotten creative in order to serve the over 90% of families who choose their traditional public schools. 

The next agenda item was to approve the budget presentation that happened at the beginning of the meeting. The one after that was about approving a $120 million bond for the district. 

During the discussion, Board Member Ewing did something that I’d like to see more of. She mentioned fiscal responsibility. She mentioned Peoria Mayor Jason Beck’s “aggressive” economic plan to build infrastructure and build a robust economy. She brought up how Beck wants to bring in businesses and how those business leaders really want strong public schools to attract employees.

Side note, if you don’t know about Peoria Mayor, Jason Beck, you should. He’s a pretty interesting guy whose former employees say has anti-LGBTQ beliefs. He also tried to oust one of his city councilors in a way that some say violated open meeting law. Lately he’s been promoting a religious charter school chain on his official Peoria social media pages, and he’s donated generously to white Christian nationalist candidates. Oh, and a lot of people in Peoria are pissed about his airport proposal, so he eliminated Peoria city councilors’ ability to pull any items from the consent agenda.

Oh, and FYI, there’s another candidate that Mayor Beck will likely throw another $5000 to, and his name is Rob Stevens. He seems super normal. 

There were a few public comments about this agenda item, beginning with a parent in the district who shared his support. Next up was Envelope Lady, Jodi Brackett, and she was there to disparage a teacher in the district, share that she’s a Heather Rooks stan, and remind everyone that she’s obsessed with other people’s genitalia. 

I’m not joking when I tell you, Secular Fam, that I CALLED THESE VOTES. My houseguest was in my living room when I said, “Board Member Rooks is going to abstain, WATCH!” and sure enough, she did. (I’m already sad that he won’t be here for the next meeting). 

Remember, these deeply unserious board members choose to abstain when they want to play both sides of the fence. She has a couple of buddies (who, BY THE WAY, have become a skosh more quiet in the last month) on these committees. Since they’re volunteering to be on these committees, Board Member Rooks has to support the work they’ve done. But she also has to appeal to her evangelical base of supporters who don’t volunteer and know nothing about the importance of bonds. IMO, it shows a lack of spine. 

Next on the agenda were a bunch of policy first-reads, meaning, this is their first time being read at a meeting, and if anyone wants to recommend changes or ask questions, they can. The items will be brought back for (usually) a second and a third, in case there are changes. The item that Board Member Rooks took issue with was a policy about school councils. 

Basically, the new policy removes the minimum requirements of the number of participants in school councils. Why she would be opposed to this is beyond me, since now, with the recommended changes, there are no minimums or limits to the members of these site councils.

I think some people are just happy when they’re angry. Remember, most of these extremists are able to attend these meetings because of their privilege. Their outrage is sustainable because they have enough time, money, resources, and social networks to let it bother them. 

The next agenda item was public comment, and I’m going to go ahead and pat myself (and all of you who contacted your local school boards) on the back. Because all of us contacted the board and district administrators, the important business of the district is in the front seat where it belongs, and the Hate Speech Toastmasters Club members have been relegated to the end of the meeting. 

First up was a teacher in the district, thanking the board for their support. Next was the same parent who spoke earlier and supported the bond vote. This time, he was there to let folks know that he likes that board comments are at the end. He also brought up how, at the last meeting, he mentioned in his public comments the fear that many members of the LGBTQ community feel about speaking at PUSD board meetings. He then went on to say that in less than 24 hours after he made those comments, Board Member Rooks shared a social media post, referring to this father in the district as the “Freak in Pink.” 

He said that this almost-immediate attack proves that the culture of the PUSD meetings is deeply dysfunctional and needs to change for the better. 

Next up was a regular speaker who once gave a (white) queen chess piece to Board Member Rooks. You may remember that she gets revelations from a god (which one? No one knows), and supports a rapist as president. 

She opened by calling out her kid’s baseball coach by name, and then proceeded to shit all over him. And like, I get it, folks. I’m a mama bear, and I don’t want anyone messing with my children, but there are channels for this kind of grievance, and a public board meeting ain’t it. Thankfully, someone finally called a point of order, and the speaker, Mia, pushed back. She said that because it’s public comment, she’s allowed to defame people, and again, let’s go back to privilege. 

These evangelical extremist, purity culture warriors believe that they are the true victims of discrimination. It’s WILD!

Yet another one of these fundamentalist culture warriors was up, and identified herself as Christy Narsi (my houseguest referred to her as “Christy NarC” since we’re guessing she’s a big fan of calling the cops). She came in HOT, and touted herself as the president of a K-8 charter school. She shared that she thinks constantly about other people’s genitalia, and that bathroom policies are essentially “the hill she’s willing to die on.” Mmmmkay…

Tobey/Touvi was up to hear his own voice complain about due process? I don’t know, and who can even keep up? Jeff led off by saying he’s a “big freedom of speech advocate,” and then basically tried to equate the student celebrations that happen at these meetings to Mia’s disparagement of the Cactus High School baseball coach. 

His logic is that if you name people for celebrations that they were fully aware of and agreed to participate in, then public commenters should be allowed to name people that they dislike when said individuals didn’t agree to it at all, and aren’t at the meeting to defend themselves. It was a pretty dumb argument, but hey! We’re all used to that nowadays, right?  

Next up was the sister of Arizona’s own J6 Insurrectionist, CD8 Congressional Hopeful, Newly Indicted Fake Elector, Arizona’s Biggest Manbaby, recently reprimanded Nazi sympathizer, AND Mama Fratelli Look Alike, Senator Anthony Kern (R-LD27). 

Janelle Bowles shared how people should cut babies in half or something? 

And finally, we were on to the last public comment! The commenter, Laura, is one of my favorite regulars at these PUSD meetings. I’ve watched this constituent make many statements over the last year, and recently, she’s really pulled the mask off of all this anti-trans hysteria. She gives me hope. Last year, she seemed to side with the bigoted bathroom brigade, but over the last couple of months, it seems she’s changed her tune. 

Normally, there are at least a half-dozen more speakers at these meetings, but at this meeting, there weren’t! Some of it has to do with moving public comments to the end. But also, I think that some of this has to do with the fact that some of these extremists are in fact joining district committees.

A woman who supports Board Member Rooks and the 2024 MAGA candidates attended this meeting on 5.9.2024. This woman usually speaks at nearly every single meeting in PUSD, but she didn’t speak at this meeting. I can’t help but wonder if her participation on this bond/override committee helped her to see that there is nothing nefarious about this type of committee work?

Initially, it seemed as if President Proudfit was willing to align herself to these MAGA monsters, but I don’t get that vibe anymore. She’s actually shaping up to be a level-headed leader, who exhibits true kindness and compassion. 

And let’s not forget Deer Valley (DVUSD) Board Clerk, Paul Carver. Here’s a guy that I thought would bring in a blowtorch to dismantle that district, and here he is, being a standup guy who cares about the students, families, and staff in his district. 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: They are loud but we are many.

This is the death rattle of evangelical extremism, and we’re all witnessing their extinction in real time, so you know what that means…

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Also, this meeting was fairly short and sweet, so be sure to reach out and thank your local pro-public school board members today and thank them for keeping the focus on the kids and families in the district! 

There are 175ish days until election day, Secular Fam, so keep up the good work, take breaks when you need them, and remember to lean in to the best things that life has to offer. Until next time!