The "Grace of Christ" is free, so who needs free money?

And other dumb stuff said in PUSD

What’s good, Secular Fam? I hope all of you are keeping up the good fight and doing all you can to combat white Christian nationalism at every level. This week, a bunch of keyboard warriors, from both sides of the political spectrum, took to their keyboards, either elated or angry over the PUSD vote from September 12, 2024. You know, the one where a tie vote caused the district to lose $275,000 in federal grant funding for mental health services? Yeah, that one.

While evangelical extremists doubled down on their lies all over the land of Make Believe (Facebook), people who understand how all of this works were outraged at such a short-sighted decision. There were some fireworks for sure, and some of the extremists even removed their posts because of the backlash they received. 

So the community was pretty ginned up on the September 26, 2024 meeting in PUSD, and it was standing room only. I had every intention of going, but I’ve been dealing with some personal health issues, so I watched from home. The crowd was heavy with pro-public education constituents, and I love how they took up the seats where the extremists usually sit. 

The red hearts they wore around their necks symbolize the 1800 students who lost services due to such an illogical vote. 

This was a long day for the PUSD board members and members of cabinet because they started with a study session, went into executive session, and then conducted the regular business meeting. It started as these meetings usually do, and before we knew it, it was time for governing board reports!

Board Member Melissa Ewing spoke about her meeting with the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, and spoke about how important it is to have strong relationships with local businesses to forge partnerships and learn what industry leaders are looking for when it comes to hiring. 

The only other update of substance came from President Becky Proudfit. She said basically that she’s not a politician. She’s a parent and someone who loves the district, she said. She said her goal is not to create chaos, and spoke about how rough the last couple of weeks have been for many people in PUSD. She gave a shout out to Board Member Ewing for explaining to her what good governance looks like. 

That’s nice and all, but all it did was make me angry at the people on the board who boxed Mrs. Ewing out of a leadership role on the board. As far as I can tell, she takes her role on the board very seriously, and she attends countless trainings to be the best board member she can be. I hope that whoever is elected to the board in November acknowledges her hard work and commitment to her position, and doesn’t squander another opportunity to elect a serious elected official to lead PUSD.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad she admitted her mistakes, especially since so few people in her party do, but the damage is done, Secular Fam! Her “permanent solution” vote resulted in the district using funds allocated for other things, and cost the district $275,000 of their own money. One argument now being used by the evangelical extremists to support this vote was that this is sTiLL oUr oWn tAx mOnEy, thinking I guess, that it will go back to the taxpayers, but that’s not how any of this works. 

Now, other school districts can, and probably already are, applying for those funds. One totally benign item was pulled from consent and Board Member Rooks and one of her Hate Group Toastmasters Club members tried to act like they knew anything about anything by speaking about it, so that was annoying. 

Another benign item was pulled about a school lunch update, and a regular attendee used her time as an opportunity to show the evangelical extremists how they could actually help PUSD. So props to Laura T, for pointing out the total hypocrisy of the Arseholes with Casseroles Crew. 

There was another vote to approve an employee appointment for Director of Federal Grants, and all I could think was, “good luck, sister!” Given how some members (and candidates) of this board want to micromanage staff and deny federal grant funding, I’m sure her job will not be easy. 

Next up! Public Comments!

There were quite a few folks signed up, so I’ll just try to summarize the sentiments of the most poignant (and also the most misinformed) speakers. 

First up was a woman who sang the praises of social workers in our schools. It was her first board meeting, and she was so poised! She thanked President Proudfit for her apology and dropped knowledge about the real work that social workers do. 

Next, one of the evangelical extremist regulars, sporting a campaign t-shirt for her equally extreme candidates. She said that schools don’t need all that pesky cash. Also she parroted that old bootstraps adage, “nothing in this world is free.” She went on to say that the only thing for free in this world is the “grace of Christ,” so no worries, staff and students! Don’t worry about the jobs that could have been lost or the caseloads that would have been foisted on other mental healthcare providers! Just pray harder! 

One of the social worker interns and a PUSD alumnus spoke eloquently about how social workers have “super powers.” She shared her own mental health struggles, and all I could think about is how that vote earlier this month doesn’t just hurt the kids already in the district, but also the ones who came from the district, seeking to further their careers. Not very “every student, every day” if you ask me. 

Next up was the president of the Peoria Education Association (PEA). She’s definitely my favorite speaker at these meetings, and she spoke to the misinformation of psychotherapy happening in schools. It doesn’t happen. She also asked, why is the pArEnTaL RiGhTs crowd trying to strip those who want these programs and who opt-in to these programs should be denied their parental rights? 

She also brought up Maslow’s Hierarchy, and how Board Member Rooks blocked an employee for simply posting something about it on her social media.

Laura T was up again to point out their hypocrisy about the mental health vote, and asked Ms. Rooks if she can actually share the names of the “parents” and “teachers” who share all their horror stories about mental healthcare happening in the district. 

At this point, I want to give a mini-lesson on Good Boardsmanship 101. As a board member, parents and community members will come at you from all angles. I remember when a relative of mine was having trouble with bullying on one of the campuses in the district I served. She reached out to me because she knew me. 

Makes sense. 

BUT, if I had tried to handle it directly, and there was a disciplinary hearing or due process hearing, I would have had to recuse myself from any decisions related to her kid. 

So I did what policy states board members should do. First, I directed her to talk to the teacher first, then the principal. At that point, the principal can investigate, and work with the parent, teacher, and student on how to best handle it. After that, it may go to the superintendent or other district staff, if needed. 

When you designate yourself the top cop of the district, chaos ensues, but I’m pretty sure that is what these evangelical extremists want. 

Another conspiracy theorist regular blathered on with a bunch of misinformation, and then an older gentleman who is a lifelong educator asked Rooks and Proudfit point blank, “are students only numbers and statistics who come to school with mental health problems expecting to focus on learning?”

A PUSD candidate who refuses to answer directly whether he would support a bond/override ballot measure (⛳⛳⛳) was up next and encouraged the board to ignore legal counsel when it comes to employee discrimination, so that was weird. He also said that even though he’s not a lawyer, he just I guess, feels it in his bones that they’re wrong? I have a feeling I know the type of lawyer he wants. 

Next up was a mother in the district who shared the awful story of how her six-year-old son found his 12-year-old big sister dead on the floor of their bathroom a month before his first day of second grade. She gave a tearful account of her story, and talked about how the social worker staff in PUSD helped her family find a counselor for him. 

That’s what’s really happening here, folks. Social workers, behavior interventionists, counselors, and other mental healthcare providers don’t provide psychotherapy. They don’t prescribe medication. They don’t “trans our students” like Heather Rooks and others would have you believe. I’m sick and tired of lies driving the narrative of mental health and literally every other thing that happens in our schools. It’s political, dishonest, privileged, and cruel. 

Despite all the knowledge being dropped at this meeting, the weirdos stuck to their lack of knowledge and straight up lies. This tracks, because just look at their leaders. 

I guess if you have all that free “grace of Christ” you don’t need any of your own? 

Another speaker came up to dispel all the lies, and mentioned the Anytown program that has been demonized by extremists. This is an amazing program that truly benefits both kids and educators on campuses. I’ve been lucky enough to be an advisor at my high school’s Anytown camp, and it was my absolute favorite week of teaching. 

So of course, these know-nothings hate it. At least two speakers went out of their way to disparage this prestigious program. 

They also do this thing where they need to outdo the personal stories of people who speak. “Oh, your daughter died, and your kid was devastated at the loss of his big sister? Well, I ALSO have relatives who died and they died because of the big bad social workers on their case.”

A self-proclaimed “conservative” employee shared her disappointment over the vote to do away with PUSD’s own grant money, and that she’s an educator in the district. I like that she shared her political leanings because the extreme base of MAGA acts as if they speak for all conservatives. They don’t, and more and more, traditional conservatives are rejecting their nonsense. 

Another parent in the district shared his own son’s experience with bullying and mental health supports, and how the social workers helped to get this kid the help that he needed. Mental healthcare workers in the district helped him navigate through a learning disability and his bipolar diagnosis. He’s now a 2021 graduate of PUSD and WestMEC. He promised that he’ll do anything it takes to stop candidates who try to do away with social workers in the district, and Board Member Rooks looked uncomfortable since during this meeting, her usual fanbase was in the minority, and her nonsense has been exposed to everyone in the room.

Next was PUSD board candidate Janelle Bowles, the sister of Arizona’s own J6 Insurrectionist, second-to-last vote-getter in the CD8 congressional primary, Fake Elector, Arizona’s Biggest Manbaby AND Mama Fratelli Look Alike, (almost former) Senator Anthony Kern (R-LD27). 

First, she condescended to anyone who disagrees with her misinformation by opening with “wowwwww, lots of confusion” about this vote or something, and then she spent most of her time finger-wagging the educators. Literally. She talked about how she too, comes from an imperfect family (well no kidding! *see above), and then she told everyone she doesn’t want to be on the school board anymore, so that was a weird choice for a candidate running for school board. 

A few more mental healthcare professionals emphasized the need for mental healthcare workers in schools. One of them represented an nonprofit called Medfest, and she explained the reason why schools are the perfect place to match students in need with liaisons who can help them access services (including food assistance, housing assistance, medical assistance, mental health services) with parental/guardian permission, and it’s because that’s where the kids in need are. 

She also reminded everyone that organizations like hers provide sports physicals to students without primary care physicians. They identify these students with the help of the social workers and their interns. Do these folks want to remove nurses and sports physical events from schools too? Should these student-athletes be barred from playing sports because they don’t have a doctor? 

Considering they opposed a partnership with Maricopa County Department of Public Health a year ago, I’m guessing a lot of these folks use leeches, Ivermectin, and oregano oil to treat their medical ailments; they probably use exorcism for mental healthcare. 

Quick aside here. We’ll be speaking with author Tia Levings about her book, “A Well-Trained Wife; My Escape from Christian Patriarchy,” on October 11, 2024. In this memoir, she shares her story of spiritual and marital abuse. When she let the church elders know that her husband was beating and choking her, they chalked it up to demonic possession. 

A field instructor was the final speaker, and she shared some pretty powerful data about mental health services in schools. I do not know where she got her stats from, but even if half of them are accurate, we should all be supporting wraparound services and advocating for even more. 

Let’s break it down: 

• 33 F/T social workers in PUSD

• 1 foster McKinney-Vento care liaison

• 12 interns

• 1 supervisor

• Since 2019, PUSD went from 2 to 38 social workers

• They all have masters degrees

• They’re all certified by ADE

• They all follow a code of ethics

• They do NOT prescribe medication

• They do NOT practice psychotherapy

• 690 families signed consent forms in 7 weeks of school

• 10 parents declined services

• Potentially 42 lives have been saved since the implementation of this grant

• 33 students/staff have DIED in PUSD in the last three years

Since Board Member Rooks’s name was mentioned during public comments, she took her opportunity to respond, and it was…something

What Board Member Rooks apparently didn’t realize is that during the consent agenda vote, the staff members who were set to lose their jobs on 9.30.2024 are now being funded through PUSD’s Maintenance and Operational (M&O) budget. They approved the continuation of these jobs in a unanimous vote. 

They rejected their own money and will now dip into their surplus funds (which aren’t a lot), to keep these employees on payroll. I guess this is part of President Proudfit’s “long term solution?” Ms. Rooks has expressed that her goal is to “be like Dysart” who got rid of all of their social workers recently. 

Rather than admit she wasn’t prepared for the meeting, she and her evangelical extremist base are now saying that PUSD and President Proudfit “tricked” her. 

President Proudfit is learning in real time how her party chews up and spits out anyone who disagrees with them. Just look at how they treated County Recorder, Stephen Richer and former House of Representatives Leader, Rusty Bowers. When they pointed out the extremism in their own party, they were censured and lost their primary elections to MAGA extremists. 

While I appreciate the moderate arm of the GOP trying to stand up to extremists, it seems obvious that the leopards will keep eating their faces when they do. 

The good news here is that it seems all of this fiscal irresponsibility has awakened people in the West Valley of Maricopa County, and I’ve never seen such negative backlash. It turns out that taxpayers who understand how things work are kind of pissed at the blatant mismanagement of their tax dollars. 

PUSD is not out of the woods by a longshot though, Secular Fam, and the evangelical extremist candidates are being bankrolled by other elected extremists in Peoria. If you don’t want your tax dollars wasted and you care about supporting the big, bad, bogeyman that is “whole child” education centered around - get this - KIDS - then go find a candidate in this district or yours that cares about students’ rights more than their entitled parents and their endless culture wars. 

There are less than 40 days until the election, folks, so get out there and support sanity! And of course, if you find these updates important, please upgrade to a paid subscription today, and become a member to support the work we do.