Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne praised the heroic actions of Tucson Police Officer William Bonanno, deployed under a Department of Education program to Legacy Traditional School-East Tucson, after he was able to arrest armed suspect Daniel Hollander, 31. Hollander was reported by parents for “acting erratically” in the school parking lot and was arrested, armed with a knife and loaded handgun.
In a statement published by KVOA following the arrest, Horne told reporters, “Today we avoided the nightmare of an armed maniac harming innocent people on a school campus. The School Safety Officer who sought out and arrested this suspect deserves the highest praise. His presence on campus is due to funding provided by the School Safety Program managed by my department and demonstrates the value of this program so that incidents like this do not become tragedies.”
In a post to X, Horne wrote, “The School Safety Program helped save the lives of innocent children yesterday. Thank you to the School Resource Officer for helping to avert tragedy. I will fight to have an SRO on every campus to keep students safe.”
The School Safety Program helped save the lives of innocent children yesterday. Thank you to the School Resource Officer for helping to avert tragedy. I will fight to have an SRO on every campus to keep students safe. https://t.co/QmystFhVBX
In an article from the Arizona Department of Education, Horne said that the actions of Officer Bonanno saved the lives of 20 students and saved their parents from having their lives ruined by the grief that would have resulted. He emphasized that the narrowly-averted tragedy serves to demonstrate the need for Arizona lawmakers to take action and fund more armed officers on school campuses, while calling upon them to ramp up criminal penalties for suspects entering school grounds with intent to injure or kill innocent people.
Horne said:
“For years, I have been pushing for more police officers in the schools, saying repeatedly that if a maniac Invades a school and kills 20 students as has happened in other states and could happen here, their parents would never recover. If they learned that the school could have had a police officer to defend their children funded by the Department of Education, and decided not to, you can imagine what they would feel about that decision making. By the skin of our teeth, we avoided that nightmare by a police officer, newly funded by the Department of Education annually, on the job arresting a man who was in a room with 20 students and additional adults, who said that he was going to make the students immortal by killing all of them.”
He added, “Only the heroic actions of the School Safety Officer, William Bonanno, prevented a catastrophe. He undoubtedly saved lives because of his incredible professionalism in that he was experienced enough to act quickly rather than wait for backup. The presence of an armed officer has sadly become a crucial element of campus safety, and this incident proves that beyond a doubt. The heroism of this officer means that more than 20 families have not experienced the tragic death or injury to an innocent child. As a parent who has suffered the loss of a child, I can tell you that you never get over it.”
“We cannot allow the status quo where not enough schools have armed officers to continue. More funding for officers and legislation that allows retired officers to become School Safety Officers or Resource Officers should be passed. Representative Matt Gress is sponsoring such a bill, HB 2074, which has passed the House Education Committee. It needs to be fast-tracked through the legislature and signed by the governor as soon as possible because, as we saw yesterday, lives are at stake.”
As reported by AZCentral, Tucson Police Chief Chad Kasmar told a Thursday presser that Officer Bonanno discovered Hollander sitting in the school gymnasium talking to himself. Not long before, students had filled the gymnasium waiting for classes to start. The Chief revealed that Hollander admitted he had been using narcotics for “several days” and admitted he was at the school with the intent to harm children.
“I can tell you with the preliminary history of this individual, it wouldn’t have been somebody that was probably on our radar,” Kasmar added.
Horne is urging the legislature to pass House Bill 2074, which is now out of committee, in order to push more funding out to districts to fund additional School Safety Officers.
State Rep. Matt Gress who sponsored HB 2074 said in a statement, “What happened in Tucson yesterday was an act of heroism that nearly became a terrible tragedy. Lives were saved because an armed officer was doing his job at the Legacy East campus. This proves that, sadly, no space is entirely safe, and we must do everything we can to protect innocent lives. My legislation will do that, and I call on all my colleagues, regardless of political affiliation, to get this bill passed, and I also call on Governor Hobbs to sign this bill when it reaches her desk. It is an essential, non-partisan issue that needs immediate attention.”
The Arizona State Board of Education (AZSBE) placed a Phoenix-area school district into receivership over mismanagement of funds.
Isaac Elementary School District (IESD) had a budget shortfall amounting to over $12.3 million, which included over $9.3 million in unrestricted capital and nearly $3 million in maintenance and operations.
In a special meeting held earlier this week, AZSBE voted unanimously to place IESD into receivership.
🚨🚨BREAKING NOW – EMERGENCY MEETING OF AZ STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION – BANKRUPT SCHOOL DISTRICT WITH $12,344,641 BUDGET SHORTFALL TO GO INTO RECEIVERSHIP ▶️ Auditor General presents SBE on timeline of overspending and refusals to comply with internal controls and financial… pic.twitter.com/CGCzhswztt
— TheLegalProcess (v3.0 | Instruction Not Therapy) (@ALegalProcess) January 14, 2025
The auditor general’s office reported during the special meeting that IESD remained among the highest risk districts since December 2020. IESD was also determined to present consistently high risks in change in weighted student count, budget limit reserve, and their financial position.
Despite five years of meetings with IESD to assist with improvements on its deficit general fund balance and loss in student-count-generated revenues, the auditor general’s office reported that their efforts failed to yield improvements.
In a letter to AZSBE last month, the auditor general reported that Maricopa County School Superintendent’s Office and ADE were unable to determine IESD overexpenditure amounts due to IESD submitting an annual financial report for the 2024 fiscal year that was “unreliable and inaccurate.” The auditor general further reported that IESD improperly moved millions of dollars in expenditures into certain funds lacking sufficient cash to support spending, causing those funds to report millions in deficits.
IESD Superintendent Mario Ventura said the auditor general’s findings were “shocking” to him and the school board. Ventura claimed that the 2024 fiscal year was the first time that their district had overspent. Ventura said that the loss of key personnel resulted in their overspending: the district’s grant specialist and two business managers. Ventura also claimed that the rush to spend federal relief funds caused the district to become lax on spending controls.
IESD argued in the special meeting that the outcome of November elections, specifically a proposed bond, could provide an alternative remedy to receivership.
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) referred IESD to AZSBE for the funds mismanagement.
ADE submitted a letter to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education last week advising that IESD failed to submit its completion report for federal COVID-19 relief funds by the end of December 2023. This resulted in IESD forfeiting nearly $8.9 million which they had spent but not requested reimbursement. Therefore, ADE petitioned the Department of Education to open the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to reimburse IESD.
“Because these expenditures were not reimbursed before the end of the liquidation period, the Isaac Elementary School District was required to find other sources of funds to cover these expenditures,” stated ADE Chief Financial Officer Tim McCain. “The overall result of this has been that the Isaac School District is in deep financial hardship that may result in teachers not being paid their salaries to instruct students in the school district.”
Maricopa County Treasurer John Allen warned that IESD staff and educators should deposit or cash any existing paychecks, expressing insecurity over the county’s ability to keep IESD schools open. Allen said that payments would stop in a week’s time.
“I don’t have the money,” said Allen. “It’s not a county responsibility to keep schools open, it’s a state responsibility. I wish I had better news from my office to the constituents of that district.”
Once appointed, a receiver will have 120 days to investigate and submit a report to AZSBE on how to improve IESD finances and a timeline for solvency.
IESD says its day-to-day operations will continue as usual under the receivership.
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Arizona schools received over 4,000 overdose kits this past week, contributing to the thousands they have and will continue to receive.
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) supplied the Narcan kits through its School Training Overdose and Intelligence Taskforce (STOP-IT) initiative.
In a press release, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne hailed the kits as “lifesaving,” and pledged for more to be coming.
“The results have been excellent and represent my ongoing commitment to the health and safety of school-aged children,” said Horne. “They are to be congratulated for doing a tremendous amount of work in a short time and getting tangible results that will help protect children. We are grateful to the 20 medical societies, government agencies and state programs that have signed a letter of support promoting the integration of STOP-IT resources into our schools.”
Apart from this latest installment, ADE has supplied about 4,400 kits to 144 education agencies across the state.
Horne launched STOP-IT last May to supply the kits to schools. Last November, ADE announced that it began deliveries of over 16,000 kits in coordination with the Arizona Department of Emergency & Military Affairs (DEMA).
Schools signed up for these Narcan overdose kits through ADE’s online form after receiving permission from their districts.
ADE pledged to continue replenishment of overdose kits to ensure schools’ continued ability to handle opioid emergencies.
Nearly 60 percent of all fentanyl in the country comes through Arizona. Maricopa County maintains the second-highest overdose death rate among youth, according to Horne.
“Within the past three years, overdoses rose to the third leading cause of death in youth under age 18,” said Horne. “And according to the Department of Health Services, our state has recorded more than 1,300 non-fatal overdoses and 224 deaths in our kids since 2017. Those figures represent tragic situations for children and their families. As a state, we must do as much as possible to combat this scourge, which is why I am so proud of the meaningful progress made by the STOP-IT taskforce.”
Arizona reported over 1,900 opioid-related deaths and over 4,000 overdoses in 2023. 26 of those opioid-related deaths were among minors (those under the age of 17).
Last year, AZDHS recorded over 3,900 non-fatal opioid overdoses and over 1,300 confirmed opioid deaths. Total non-fatal overdoses among minors amounted to 94. Overdose deaths among minors for this year amounted to less than 10.
In partnership with ADE to make STOP-IT possible are the Arizona School Resource Officers Association, Arizona Counter Drug Task Force, Arizona School Administrators Association, Arizona Association of School Business Officials, Arizona Department of Health Services, Arizona School Boards Association, Arizona Society of Addiction Medicine, Arizona School Counselors Association, Arizona Chapter of the American College of Physicians, Arizona Association of School Psychologists, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, Arizona Interscholastic Association, Arizona Nurses Association, Arizona Medical Association, Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Arizona Chapter of the National Safety Council, National Association of School Nurses, School Nurses Association of Arizona, and the Substance Awareness Coalition Leaders of Arizona.
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As another legislative session begins in Arizona, Republicans and Democrats are again bringing the all-important issue of school choice to the forefront of the public debate.
On Monday, Governor Katie Hobbs ushered in the start of the 57th Regular Session of the Arizona Legislature with her State of the State address, where she took time to criticize the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) program. In her speech, Hobbs said, “The current program is unchecked, flawed, and rife with exploitation. Three years ago, it went far beyond its original purpose, which was to support kids with special needs and military families. Today, it has ballooned into a billion-dollar boondoggle increasingly scamming Arizonans. Other entitlements funded by taxpayers have strict oversight and income requirements. Yet the ESA program has the privilege of virtually no safeguards.”
Other entitlements funded by taxpayers have strict oversight and income requirements. Yet the ESA program has the privilege of virtually no safeguards. My executive budget offers a balanced solution that supports families and finally brings real and effective guardrails to ESAs.
Hobbs proposed changes to the ESA program for a “balanced solution that supports families and finally brings real and effective guardrails to ESAs.” Her solution was to “institute responsible income caps, ensure taxpayers know where their money is going, and create real accountability for taxpayer dollars.”
The governor’s remarks were met with immediate criticism from Republicans and others who support the expanded ESA program. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said, “Under my leadership, the department has done a full-court press against waste and fraud. I hired both a program auditor and an investigator, which had not been done before. I require that every expenditure be for a valid educational purpose and have been attacked for doing that. The Governor needs to pay more attention to what is going on. She gets an ‘F’.”
Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope added, “We will also protect parental choice, so that every child in the state has the ability to succeed in the classroom, no matter their zip code or financial status.”
Common Sense Institute Arizona wrote, “In her State of the State address, Governor Hobbs asked lawmakers to compare Arizona’s ESA program to other government entitlement programs with respect to accountability and transparency. Luckily, we already did! And it turns out that improper payment rates in the Arizona ESA program are a fraction of those in other government programs like Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance, and SNAP.”
In her State of the State address, @GovernorHobbs asked lawmakers to compare Arizona's ESA program to other government entitlement programs with respect to accountability and transparency.
Luckily, we already did! And it turns out that improper payment rates in the Arizona ESA… pic.twitter.com/XAfMKzaPmS
— Common Sense Institute Arizona (@CSInstituteAZ) January 13, 2025
Jason Bedrick said, “The voters made their will clear by re-electing those who supported ESAs and expanding their legislative majority. The legislature should reject Gov. Hobbs’ attempts to undermine ESA families.”
Once again, AZ Gov. @KatieHobbs is attacking families who use Empowerment Scholarship Accounts.
In her State of the State address, she called for income caps that would kick thousands of families out. Is she going to impose income caps on district schools too?
On the flip side, Governor Hobbs’ comments received support from her allies, who have long attempted to shrink, regulate, or eliminate the historic ESA expansion program in Arizona. Save Our Schools Arizona Executive Director Beth Lewis responded, “It is time to end the rampant waste, fraud, and abuse in the universal ESA voucher program. We commend Governor Hobbs for championing public education and pushing for much-needed voucher reform. We sincerely hope legislators like Senate President Petersen who name ‘fiscal responsibility’ their top priority will bring long-overdue guardrails to this irresponsible program, which now costs taxpayers nearly $1 billion annually.”
Hobbs and legislative Republicans will continue to bicker about the future of school choice in Arizona, but not much – if anything – will be done this year (and likely the next) to regulate ESAs per the governor’s insatiable desire. Over the past two years, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen successfully fended off ferocious political attacks that targeted ESAs and other school choice opportunities for Arizonans. He will again be counted upon, along with his Republican colleagues in the Arizona House and Senate, to protect one of the top states in the country for school choice.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
The newly elected Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) board president is a conservative mother, declining to re-elect the sitting president.
PUSD elected its new president, Heather Rooks, during Thursday’s regular board meeting following their 8-hour study session. Members Janelle Bowles, Jeff Tobey, and Becky Proudfit voted for Rooks, with only board member Melissa Ewing voting against. Ewing didn’t provide an explanation for her “no” vote.
Proudfit attempted to re-elect herself, but only Ewing voted for her.
Public comment on the board president election expressed hope in the prospect of new leadership.
One mother and community advocate, Nikki Eancheff, explained that Rooks helped her navigate school procedures after her daughter encountered a boy in a girls’ restroom at Liberty High School.
“What Mrs. Rooks said earlier today in the retreat, that she was elected by parents to be our voice and be our champion and advocate here in the board room and the district level is the truth,” said Eancheff.
Several other mothers also expressed their overt support for Rooks due to her prioritization of parents while backing public schools.
Kristen Balthis with the Peoria Principals’ Association said that while their organization didn’t endorse any one candidate, they supported the candidate that “can facilitate the education environment that allows our children to thrive.”
Teddy Todd, who has spoken out against PUSD board policies before, expressed her pleasure with the makeup of the governing board for this year, and said she hoped the president would foster “trust, hope, and collaboration” among all members.
However, those aligned with the teachers’ unions disagreed with some parents’ desire for change.
Trina Berg, president of the Peoria Education Association (PEA), asked for the reelection of Becky Proudfit for board president. PEA is part of the Arizona Education Association and the National Education Association. Berg questioned whether Rooks’ lawsuit against PUSD presented a conflict of interest.
In September 2023, Rooks sued PUSD for prohibiting her from quoting Bible verses during board meetings. The First Liberty Institute is representing Rooks in her case, which is ongoing. The Arizona District Court scheduled in-person oral argument for Friday in the case.
Berg also said that Rooks didn’t exhibit the qualities of a president, citing her past decisions to step out of executive meetings she felt should be public as well as Rooks’ decision to not silence certain speech from her supporters.
“Allowing misconceptions and sometimes downright misinformation to flourish and move through your group of supporters on social media without any correction is not leadership material,” said Berg.
Devon Moseler, vice president of PEA, also asked for the reelection of Proudfit for board president.
“We may not always agree with decisions that have been made, but we have appreciated the transparency and willingness to discuss challenging topics in an effort to understand the needs of our educators, administrators, and students,” said Moseler.
Proudfit’s husband, Taylor Proudfit, urged the board members to change their minds on Rooks and vote for his wife. Taylor claimed that board members supporting Rooks weren’t voting in accordance with their constituents.
Rooks’ rise to the leadership position came, in part, from the elections of new members Bowles and Tobey, ensuring the board’s flip to a majority of more conservative-minded members.
In recent years, the PUSD board came under community and even national scrutiny for adopting policies that favored progressive ideologies. This included the alignment with the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX which ordered schools to allow bathroom or locker room access based on gender identity. Ewing was one of the defendants of that policy, arguing that discrimination based on gender identity violates Title IX protections.
Rooks attended PUSD and graduated from Sunrise Mountain High School. Rooks first took office in January 2023.
Rooks’ campaign platform prioritized parental rights, academics, and organizational transparency. She ran in opposition to mandates for masks and COVID vaccines, Critical Race Theory ideology, and sexual content materials in classrooms.
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James Badger, 45, a Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) teacher was arrested for sexual exploitation of children.
Badger taught at Tucson High Magnet School (THMS). He was arrested on Tuesday by the Tucson Police Department and charged with ten counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The statement of probable cause for Badger’s arrest cited child sexual abuse material (CSAM) images downloaded to his computer.
“On a computer belonging to James the Sandra series from BitTorrent download was located on this computer, along with other CSAM material. A manual preview of the device showed there was a large amount of CSAM on the computer,” read the statement. “10 images were selected that met the criteria of sexual exploitation of a minor. These images included prepubescent females below the age of 15 that were nude in sexual poses where their genital area was the focus. They lacked breast development or pubic hair.”
Badger formerly taught at Parker High School, where he oversaw the drama club. Badger left after an undisclosed controversy, apparently concerning his inclusion of “anything gay” within the drama department’s productions.
In March 2023, Badger posted the following on his Instagram with a partial picture of an email depicting a threat to him:
“For the record: I didn’t get fired, but someone wants to fire a gun at me, and they’ve said so very explicitly. I didn’t resign, but I did tell admin[instration] that I will not be coming back after this year. I won’t be on campus for a while, but I will finish out the year,” wrote Badger. “To those who have been kind and welcoming to us over the years: thank you. To those who let bigotry and pointless political divisions cloud your judgement: grow up. To those who have mocked, gossiped, and threatened: go f**k yourselves.”
Badger then moved on to teaching at THMS.
In a February 2024 post depicting the “second annual drag show” at THMS, Badger shared his satisfaction with THMS tolerance to LGBTQ+ ideologies for minors. That drag show was sponsored by the school’s Q Space club. Q Space clubs encourage students to adopt LGBTQ+ identities and ideologies.
“Interesting to see such an event proceeding with full support of the school’s administration,” wrote Badger. “For years I wondered what that would be like, and now I know: it’s super normal.”
The THMS Q Space club advisor is a transgender man, Sunday (formerly April) Hamilton. It was Hamilton and another former THMS counselor, Zobella Brazil Vinik, who began organizing THMS drag shows featuring the high schoolers. Vinik was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl in 2022.
According to various posts on his Instagram page, Badger was a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, along with mainstream progressive ideologies: Black Lives Matter, critical race theory, LGBTQ+ ideologies, and abortion.
In another post in the weeks leading up to the 2024 presidential election, Badger expressed his fear of Donald Trump winning the presidency and his belief that the government would murder him and his family under a Trump administration.
“Trump will win this election, and fascism will take hold in America. Nothing matters, and nothing can be done,” wrote Badger. “When you come to kill me, please don’t let my wife and children see. When you come to kill my wife and children, please don’t let them see it coming. #notkidding #thesearethestakes.”
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