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Well, well, well, Secular FAM! I’m not usually one to celebrate on Cinco de Mayo since it’s a very manufactured excuse for (mostly white) people to drink tequila, but this Tuesday, May 5th, 2026, I may just need to celebrate with a giant margarita! Why, you ask?
There is a special meeting happening in Peoria (PUSD) tonight that will decide if PUSD governing board President Heather Rooks will lose her leadership role that she just secured a few short months ago.
You know, this whole Beehiiv account pretty much exists because I truly couldn’t believe the things that I was seeing in PUSD. So let’s kick it old school my Secular bretheren and sisteren, and talk about some of their most recent meetings!
To recap, Heather Rooks joined the board after the 2022 election. Before joining the board, she inundated the district with public records requests that cost about $300,000 in taxpayer dollars. Once on the board, she and her former colleague insisted on violating their oath to the Constitution by praying at government meetings where children were present. Secular AZ and other organizations reminded her of her oath to the Constitution, and the district gave her legal advice she didn’t like. So she sued the district that she’s supposed to be serving.
The meetings became a circus, and before the November, 2024 election, a Danish TV host came all the way over here to film a few episodes and mock Rooks and a couple of her colleagues over their puritanical approach to education. The funniest part is that they didn’t even realize they were being mocked.
In that election, her MAGA colleagues prevailed. In January of 2025, Jeff Tobey and Janelle Bowles - sister to Arizona’s own J6 Insurrectionist, second-to-last vote-getter in the 2024 CD8 congressional primary, Fluent Speaker of “Tongues,” Fake Elector, Arizona’s Biggest Manbaby AND Mama Fratelli Look Alike, former Senator Anthony Kern (R-LD27)
were sworn in.
Things quickly unraveled under her leadership, and she was able to push through many of her extreme policies. They’ve gotten rid of social workers, failed to pass an override in 2025, and threatened to sever contracts with any vendor or organization that has DEI policies in place, including several arts memberships.
From the moment she was handed the gavel, meetings now last for several hours, and nearly every meeting has either an executive session or study session before it.
It’s exhausting to be sure, and the policies she and her MAGA colleagues are blasting through this district are rarely based in fact or best practices. They’re wholly focused on culture war issues and pushing through Christian nationalist policies rather than what’s best for kids.
In the past few years, PUSD has also been plagued with investigations involving educators having wildly inappropriate relationships with students. If the leadership of this board truly cared about grooming and pedophilia, they’d consider medically accurate, age appropriate curriculum so that children could learn about healthy relationships or red flags. Instead, they’ve demonized social workers and trans people.
And they voted for the guy who is mentioned in the Epstein files more times than God is mentioned in the Bible
A few years back, there were accusations against a Peoria High School teacher nicknamed “MR ORNG” (recently sentenced to 3.5 years in prison). Last year, there were accusations against the wrestling coach at Liberty High School, and most recently, two teachers at Centennial High School are under investigation.
However, these three cases have brought different responses from members of the board. With the case in Liberty, the board decided to reinstate the coach even though the investigation was still active. Interestingly, Board Member Tobey, who has a background in law enforcement, and Melissa Ewing, who has a brain, voted against his reinstatement. Mr. Tobey noted how important it is to allow for an investigation to be complete before reinstating a staff member involved in a current investigation.
In Centennial, there have been several separate investigations by both the district and local law enforcement agencies, and as I understand it, the investigation into the teachers is ongoing. I am assuming they’re trying to figure out which laws were broken and how many times so they can determine what charges should be brought against them.
Through all of these investigations by various agencies, nothing was found to indicate that the site administrators or other mandated reporters on campus were negligent in their duties.
At the April 23, 2026 meeting, President Rooks brought forth an agenda item for a vote to possibly retain a third-party investigator. Based on the comments online and in the meeting, she and her cult members don’t trust the findings from multiple agencies that the Centennial administrators did nothing wrong.
The attorney for the district introduced the item and explained the various agencies involved with the investigation. Then folks came up to speak during public comments. Parents, students, teachers, and other staff members spoke, and implored them to trust the process, respect the professionals, and focus on the kids. A teacher at the district shared her disgust at how all of these weird PUSD, MAGA, influencer-wannabe, pick-me, bored housewives create narratives online. The result is that Rooks and Bowles (and sometimes Tobey and Proudfit) govern by social media gossip.
And on top of all of this, this board has been all up in these investigations. At nearly every regular board meeting since Ms. Rooks became president, there have been executive sessions, and the subject of them is frequently about these active investigations.
Remember, I was a school board member. Whenever there is an investigation into allegations against a student, staff member, or any employee in the district, the school board is kept out of it until all investigations are over. In one case, there were allegations against an employee at a school I once worked at, so I knew many of the staff there. I knew that I couldn’t ask them any questions or it could jeopardize the due process of it all.
During the board discussion, it became clear that the board was divided. Board Member Tobey cited the need to trust local law enforcement and let the experts do their job. Ultimately, the motion failed, and President Rooks was visibly upset.
That could have been the end of it, but about a week later, Ms. Rooks very loudly announced that she had filed complaints against various staff members with Maricopa County Attorney, Rachel Mitchell’s office. Her complaints included the principal of Centennial and Superintendent Somers, without evidence. After several many investigations that appear to contradict her claims, she continues to assert that the mandated reporters all looked the other way.
She did this even though one of her wannabe-influencer friends tried the same thing in February, and Mitchell’s office responded saying they wouldn’t move forward with the case because those in charge reported in a timely manner.
But none of this should surprise you, my Secular FAM, because she’s been wasting resources and disregarding facts since before she got on the board.
Even after the impassioned pleas from the public to trust the investigators, Rooks again disregarded their voices. On Sunday the Arizona Education Association put out a call-to-action, and apparently by Monday afternoon hundreds of people sent letters to the PUSD board to call for a special board meeting to reorganize board leadership.
It looks like Board Members Proudfit and Ewing called for the special meeting, so that seems like a good indication that at least two members of this board have had enough.
This district has had a mass exodus of teachers and administrators. Their superintendent noped out of there shortly after she moved him off the dais and to the kiddie table. Other district leaders followed suit, and the “hiring process” for the interim superintendent has been messy AF, with many people questioning the process.
Additionally, she’s stated with her whole chest that she doesn’t trust district or site administrators or the Peoria Police Department. Why would anyone in their right mind even want to take on a leadership position in the district, given her track record of poor treatment of her colleagues and district staff? How will local law enforcement approach investigations in PUSD going forward if she’s just going to shit on all their work? Her scorched earth approach to governance isn’t making her a lot of friends, and tomorrow night, there will likely be a full house at their special board meeting, ready to give her an earful.
Be sure to add your name to the list of people asking for a change in leadership here. If you’re feeling extra activated and you want to attend tonight’s meeting, the meeting starts at 6:00 PM at 6330 W. Thunderbird Road in Peoria.
Gather up all your heathen friends and make it a Cinco de Mayo party for local democracy, Secular FAM!
