They Came in Like a Wrecking Ball

(all they want is to break your schools)

Happy January, Secular Fam! We’re almost halfway into the month, and that means school boards all across the state are reorganizing and establishing priorities for the districts they serve. 

Both Deer Valley (DVUSD) and Peoria (PUSD) kicked off the school year with study sessions. Four out of five board members in DVUSD participated and acted like grownups, while one board member called it “illegal” and said she only attended the session to “monitor” it. She then went on social media and disparaged the district she’s serving. I think she thinks she’s “based” but all I see is “basic.”

PUSD had a marathon meeting schedule last week where they held an all-day study session that included a review of roles and responsibilities of the board, what the board members’ “North Star” is, and updates about facilities, student achievement, and the budget process. 

When members shared their “why,” for the majority of the board, it’s clear that parents in the district are their top priority, while students are an afterthought. As an educator, I was taught by my Republican mentor to lead with my most vulnerable students in mind. From what I can gather, the majority of the PUSD board is leading with their most privileged parents in mind. 

Cool, cool…

PUSD Superintendent, Dr. KC Somers led the study session, and guided the board through a conversation about board norms and expectations, highlighting the PUSD board’s Code of Ethics. 

Board Member Rooks questioned the need for a code of ethics at all (!!!). She especially didn’t like the idea that board members shouldn’t go off the rails and constantly complain about the districts they’re supposed to serve. She essentially said that it’s her First Amendment right to shit all over the district when she doesn’t get her way. She also disagreed with item B, “Understand that my job is to see that the School District is well-managed, not to manage the District.”

A lot of these evangelical extremist board members believe that they were elected to be the Superintendent of the district. Ms. Rooks let everyone know that she’s here to manage the district. 

She ain’t staying in her lane, folks.

It’s going to be a long couple of years. 

Board Member Bowles also disagreed with the idea of ethics, and let everyone know she doesn’t intend on having any either. Board Member Tobey wondered how ethics violations would be enforced, and Board Member Ewing pointed out that there aren’t really any consequences when a board member acts like a shite. 

She went on to point out that every professional group of people has a set of ethics they must follow, and how while there is no enforcement component, individuals should be committed to the set of ethics laid out by the district. From what I could gather, the majority of this board has no intention of following a code of ethics. 

How Dr. Somers was able to facilitate this meeting and keep his poker face is beyond me. I wonder if he’s currently updating his resume. It’s just a matter of time before they cut him off at the knees (again - you may remember when they refused their own grant money), or they gather up their pitchforks and torches and come after him. This dude uprooted his whole life to accept this job, so I hope for his sake that the fuckery is kept to a minimum. 

However, these first two PUSD meetings did not inspire a lot of hope. 

The next discussion on the Study Session agenda was about the board reorganization vote set to take place at the first regular meeting. You can read the roles and responsibilities of the board here. Basically, the board president sets the tone, acts as the spokesperson for the board and district as needed, and determines the agenda. 

When I was a board president, I would only allow agenda items that aligned with the district’s mission, vision, and strategic goals. When a board member wanted to schedule a presentation by an organization that supported privatization measures, it was a no-brainer to never put it on the agenda. It made this board member Big Mad, and she spouted off to everyone who would listen what a monster she thought I was, but that’s the role of the president, so she just stayed mad. (She’s probably still mad).

During this discussion in PUSD, I was pleased that both Board Member Ewing and President (FOR NOW) Proudfit put Board Member Rooks’s feet to the fire and pointed out her tendency to attack or ignore anyone who disagrees with her. Ms. Rooks denied the allegations, and essentially said she’ll behave however she damn well pleases and projected all of her own bad behavior back onto her colleagues. 

It’s going to be a LONG couple of years, Secular Fam. 

The next study session presentation was about the possibility of school closures in the coming school year. It was a lengthy and thorough presentation, so I won’t go into details, but I recommend watching it here just so you can see ALL that a school district must consider when making these tough decisions. 

Spoiler alert: these vouchers ain’t helping.

And remember folks, PUSD wasn’t able to pass their bond this year. The pArEnTaL RiGhTs crowd is usually the loudest when it comes to opposing elections that ask for additional funding. So a bunch of wealthy parents in the northern part of the district who truly need new campuses and/or buildings mostly voted against their own children’s best interests. And now, instead of new campuses/buildings, the boundaries will likely be redrawn, and kids will be rerouted to totally different schools in the coming years. 

But at least the parents are #winning, amirite?

I imagine that there were people in attendance who were giddy about all this discussion about school closures, since they voted for candidates up and down the ballot who want to get rid of public education altogether.

There was then a presentation about student academic growth and proficiency in PUSD, and I’ll tell you, folks, public schools do so much with so little. Despite all the outside noise, the educators in PUSD are doing great!

Next was a presentation about the budget and funding, educating the new board on all the district revenue streams and how they are spent. The district administrators who presented on these topics are also incredibly knowledgeable individuals who know their stuff. 

I’ll be watching this year to see if this board votes to go after an override continuation or increase. I predict that this board will vote 3-2 against it.

After all of these big picture presentations, the study session was over, and the gang reassembled back in the boardroom for the regular business meeting. 

The big item on this agenda was the board reorganization, and in a shocking twist, the board nominated Ms. Ewing to be presiden—JUST KIDDING! 

We all knew how this would go, right? Despite many public commenters showing support for Mrs. Proudfit (including her husband, who pointed out that Heather Rooks no longer holds the title of top-vote-getter in PUSD, because that title is now held by his wife who received over 50,000 votes!), Mrs. Rooks will be the new President of PUSD and Mr. Tobey will be the Clerk. 

So that vote back in the summer of 2023 where the PUSD board rejected the FREE Microsoft grant because of Microsoft’s commitment to DEI initiatives? That item won’t even make it on the agenda now if President Rooks doesn’t want it there. Get ready for more scrutiny over staff travel requests and new curriculum adoptions. Remember when former Board Member Rebecca Hill voted against a science curriculum because it didn’t include creationism? 

Hell, get ready for PragerU and Lifewise biblical curriculum to creep into PUSD, because both President Rooks and Board Member Bowles have shown their support of spreading mis/disinformation and religious indoctrination. 

The rest of the meeting was uneventful until the end when board members shared what they would like to see on future agendas. Board Member Bowles had a long list of bad ideas, and couldn’t WAIT to share them.

She wants to break ties with the Arizona School Board Association (ASBA). She wants to terminate the Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS). She wants to hire new legal counsel. 

While ASBA has had its own issues in the past few years, the alternative is an extremist organization as far as I can tell. But I would bet my bottom dollar that they’ll choose to withdraw from ASBA and join the alternative. 

MTSS is a system that schools all over the country use to provide appropriate interventions for students who need it. Oftentimes, it goes hand-in-hand with other measures like Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS). These systems of support (and others) help educators give targeted supports to struggling students. There is nothing dark or nefarious about MTSS, so of course, the conspiracy theorists assert that there is something dark and nefarious about MTSS.

You know how teachers can no longer give a “getting to know you” survey anymore without admin approval and parental notification? 

Yeah, that’s because of these idiots. 

They’re so goddamned worried that a school district setting up systems to take care of its most vulnerable students will take attention away from their precious angels, so they oppose any program that does that. 

I wish it was a better reason, but that’s it: they’re selfish AF.

And let’s consider the kind of legal counsel this board would want to hire, shall we? 

Or maybe they’ll try to retain legal counsel from Alliance Defending Freedom? Or maybe First Liberty Legal, Ms. Rooks’s current legal counsel? 

I don’t know about you, Secular Fam, but I find that incredibly troubling, don’t you? This is only the first meeting of the year, and already, the future agenda items being considered by this board are extreme, anti-child, and anti-public education to say the least. 

We have a very long road ahead of us. Did you know that we have a goal to hire a full-time attorney by fall of 2026? Our legal department has been busier than ever, and we need your help. 

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