PUSD Playing Games

(And Not the Fun Kind)

Brace yourselves, Secular Fam. This Substack update of the Peoria (PUSD) school board meeting that took place on 1.23.2025 may very well be the dumbest and most dangerous meeting I’ve ever covered. Get your coping mechanisms out, because this is going to be grueling. 

I had every intention this weekend to dig in and cover the EIGHT-AND-A-HALF-HOUR meeting from last week, but the level of stupidity at every proposed policy discussion overwhelmed me, so instead, I procrastinated and opted to spend time with my grandson. 

But this meeting was so spectacularly bad, the people in PUSD — and really, the entire state of Arizona — need to know how deeply unserious these evangelical extremists are. Everyone needs to know how much damage will happen to districts when cult members gain a majority on the board. 

The meeting was so long because it started with an executive session and then a reception for the newly-elected board members. That took about two hours before the beginning of the regular business meeting of the district, which lasted for six-and-a-half hours.

The meeting started in the usual manner. During board comments, the main thing that stuck out to me was President Rooks, using her time to share her experience at the cult rally Inauguration Day event in Washington DC. She shared that it was great to see “a little bit of hope” because in his speech he talked about unity and everyone coming together or something. 

If targeting the most marginalized and vulnerable communities in our country is her idea of “hope” and “coming together,” I’d hate to see what she considers “despair” and “rapidly disintegrating.”

Cult members frequently ignore facts and reality, so none of this is surprising. 

The Consent Agenda was relatively uneventful during this meeting, but one thing stuck out to me in the Human Resources report. Two seasoned, and very qualified district administrators are resigning this year. Of course, I can’t claim with certainty that the reason they’re leaving is because of the incoming board members and the potential for chaos, given their “wrecking ball” approach. But if they even skimmed the agenda for this meeting, I wouldn’t be surprised if they figured they should get out while the gettin’s good. 

There were a couple of agenda items about budgets and vendor contracts, and then there was an agenda item about staff travel that was already approved by the previous board last year. President Rooks missed that meeting, but since she’s now in charge, she decided to bring it back. 

The reason this item was pulled is because MAGAts can’t think of anything scarier than Social Emotional Learning (SEL) or the mere mention of the word “equity.” The travel request came from the staff at a PUSD Title I high school that is defying the odds by showing incredible academic growth year-after-year. I don’t quite understand why approved items can be brought back after a board vote, but I also don’t understand how convicted felons can run an entire country and change the Constitution with an Executive Order, so…

The discussion about this agenda item took about an hour. Despite staff assuring the board that they would stay away from all the Big Bad SEL and DEI sessions at the conference, Rooks really struggled to get it. Since the ideas of autonomy, professional respect, and basic trust seem to be lost on President Rooks, none of this surprised me. She repeatedly brought up the fact that the conference has DEI and SEL sessions, even though staff assured her that they wouldn’t go to those sessions. The only way to alleviate her distrust was to have all attendees sign affidavits, guaranteeing they would NOT attend anything regarding having compassion for others SEL or making sure everyone has a fair shot DEI. 

In the end, the item was approved again with President Rooks abstaining for no obvious reason.

At this point, these folks were five hours into their meetings, and the rest of us were contemplating our life choices. 

The next item up for discussion was the first of many policy reads or reconsiderations. Item 10.1 of the agenda was a rewrite of PUSD’s mission, vision, and values statements. Personally, I think this is a great idea for districts to revisit these artifacts every few years or so. I think it’s an especially good idea to do this when there are big organizational changes and/or new leadership. 

HOWEVER, 

These things should be created in collaboration with students, staff, parents, fellow board members, and community stakeholders. The process should start with district surveys, data, forming a task force or ad hoc committee, and several many meetings over anywhere between three months to a year. 

So of course, President Rooks did none of those things.

Several speakers shared concerns similar to mine, and one mentioned the elimination of the word “inclusiveness” and how that sends a message to “exceptional students” - those who receive special education services - that they may no longer be included in general education classes. 

President Rooks also removed the district’s value of “Integrity” (“Our consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles is illustrated through our words and behavior”) from the document, and one of President Rooks’s biggest fans asked her to reinstate that value.

You really need to read this document, Secular Fam. The language is empty, soulless, and centers parents rather than students. I would never want to work in this district or send my children there if this is adopted. 

Several speakers encouraged her to use best practices for crafting organizational mission, vision, and values statements, rather than jamming a truly uninspiring series of empty words down everyone's throats. President Rooks stated that she knows how everything works because she’s been attending board meetings for four years, guys, GAH! 

Board Member Ewing tried to explain why making changes to core values should require a more collaborative and thoughtful process, from multiple stakeholders, and over many months. She said that since the students and staff are the ones who will be most affected by these guiding principles, they definitely should be part of the process, and advocated for their inclusion in the process. 

It was pretty clear that President Rooks has no desire for there to be an inclusive, collaborative, thoughtful process. Clerk Tobey advocated for a QR code over the formation of a committee, and essentially said that the governing board doesn’t have to have any input since the community selected them. Sister Fratelli Board Member Bowles, who promised transparency and community input as a candidate, also saw no problem with a process that is neither transparent nor prioritizing the input of the community. 

This is all by design, Secular Fam. Evangelicals don’t want to serve public schools, they want to destroy them from within by getting fascist cult members into those governing bodies. 

As far as I can tell, these folks are going to follow the tactics of their cult leader and Executive Order their policies into this district whether their constituents agree with them or not. This week, The Arizona Agenda observed that this practice is happening with governing bodies all over the state. 

We should all be on high alert. Our elected leaders represent us. If your elected leaders are acting like dictators, be the thorn in their side. Call, email, attend meetings, and testify as you’re able. Now more than ever, we need to drive the narrative, and part of that means getting our stories into the public record. 

The next agenda item came from Clerk Tobey, which, if passed, will change the district’s policy about social workers, including what their licensure requirements are, which children they can help, and would eliminate the possibility for social work intern programs in PUSD. 

As one of the public speakers said, “this seems like an attempt to get rid of social workers altogether.”

A social worker asked to have a seat at the table in crafting this policy (you know, since they’re the actual experts), and an elementary principal in the district spoke about the vital need for social workers and mental health professionals in his school. He did his best to explain how much of his time is taken by behavioral issues, and since the district secured the ADE mental health grant, he’s been able to focus on…wait for it…academic outcomes. 

You know, the thing they say they care about the most. 

The big takeaway for me was how confident they are in their ignorance. The thing about cult members is that they really think they have all the answers…about…everything. I’ve written about this before. These folks all think they know more than teachers, social workers, superintendents, doctors, lawyers, journalists, historians, epidemiologists, chief financial officers, I could go on and on. 

For a bunch of people who only blame school shootings on mental health crises, they sure do work hard to keep mental healthcare providers out of schools. So let’s be honest about the real reason: they hate the LGBTQ+ community. Last September, President Rooks participated in a “training” titled “Peoria Counselors Transing Kids.” 

Their disdain for anyone who doesn’t look like them, act like them, worship like them, and think like them in lock step is a threat to their privileged lives. I spoke about this a few months back. They embrace capitalism, individualism, and even the patriarchy because to them, the benefits outweigh the costs. 

At this point in the meeting, there were still seven discussion items. There was one about creating agendas, one about patriotism (!?!?!), and one about public comment. President Rooks put public comments back at the beginning of the meeting (forcing students to sit through them before student recognitions). She also added another set time for public comments at the end of the meeting too. So that’s sure to be awesome. 

There was an agenda item about the Arizona School Board Association (ASBA) and I predict that PUSD will pull out of ASBA despite the excellent presentation provided by their executive director, Justan Rice. There was an item about enrollment, one about facilities, and another on how to handle proceeds from the disposal of properties. I think they ended up tabling a couple of items, but honestly at this point, who the hell can even keep track?

PUSD always ends their meetings by asking board members for future agenda items. Sister Fratelli Board Member Bowles asked for a future agenda item to discuss standing for the Pledge, one to require students to recite the Preamble of the Constitution, and one that would only allow the US flag to be posted in classrooms. I’m guessing she got this one from freshman Rep (and Hitler Youth cosplayer), Nick Kupper (R-LD25). One of his first vErY iMpOrTaNt bills (HB2113) is restricting which flags can be displayed on public property.

Again, this is about targeting the LGBTQ+ community and their allies.

And just like that, only eight-and-a-half hours after it started, the meeting was over. 

The overarching message here is that the next four years are going to suck a whole bunch. This district meeting went over eight hours, and my contacts who were at the meeting told me that afterwards, the cult members were all celebrating that President Rooks now holds the record for chairing the longest meeting in the district. Weird flex, but mmmmmkay…

Y’all, this meeting was TOUGH to get through. We made a decision as an organization to keep these free because people need to know about these school board shenanigans. I sit through these meetings and share the f*ckery with you all so you don’t have to. Our analytics on this Substack are pretty good, and I know EXACTLY how many of you read through these articles. If you’ve been doing that for free, do me a solid and upgrade to a paid subscription. 

Also, we’ve got some pretty good merch for sale if you want to wear your secular heart on your sleeve. We are fundraising to hire a full-time attorney, so your donations are always welcome. We’re also putting together our annual Secular Day at the Capitol on March 6, 2025, and we have LOTS of events this spring and summer. If you’d like to volunteer with Secular AZ, fill out this form. The best way to fight fascism is to get involved. 

And memes. 

Keep up the good fight, Secular Fam. We’re all in this together.