by Daniel Stefanski | May 1, 2023 | Education, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A west valley school district governing board declined to take proactive measures against males or females using bathrooms of the opposite sex, and many parents are outraged.
Last week, the Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) Governing Board voted to reject a “motion to direct administration to prepare the first draft of a facility use policy for PUSD student bathrooms and locker rooms.” That motion was offered by board member Rebecca Hill and seconded by Heather Rooks. Board members David Sandoval, Bill Sorensen, and Melissa Ewing voted to sink the motion.
According to PUSD, “the District does not currently have a Governing Board policy regarding bathroom or locker room use, and the purpose of this agenda item was to determine whether or not the Governing Board should adopt a formal policy that limits the use of bathrooms and locker rooms based on biological sex.”
Rebecca Hill, the PUSD member who brought the motion, told her colleagues and the attendees in the crowded meeting space that during her tenure on the Peoria Unified School Board, “there has never been an issue more important to me than the one at hand tonight.” She appealed to the other board members, saying, “as leaders of this district, it is incumbent upon us to implement a policy that upholds common decency and respects the right to privacy that both our girls and boys are entitled to when using campus restrooms, locker rooms and any other private facility at our schools.”
Hill informed the audience she was of the understanding that there were multiple instances at Liberty High School in Peoria, where a young man has been allowed to enter the girls’ bathrooms based on his claim that he identifies as a female. She argued, “the fact that the district has allowed these actions to continue unabated without establishing an accommodation or implementing appropriate consequences is both irresponsible and unfathomable.”
Heather Rooks, Hill’s ally in this issue before the board, agreed with her colleague, stating that she had been dealing with this for months and hearing from parents and girls in the district. Rooks charged that parents were not made aware of the situations of boys in girls’ restrooms, adding, “Every parent in our district has a right to know what we are doing with their kids each day.” She also spoke in defense of the girls who had raised concerns over these alleged instances of boys in their restrooms, making the case that it is not wrong of girls to feel uncomfortable or to use their natural instincts when seeing biological males in women’s restrooms.
A West Valley lawmaker, State Senator Anthony Kern, attended the meeting and shared his thoughts on Twitter following the board’s lack of action to initiate the policy, writing, “Three Democrats on the Peoria Unified board meeting last night voted down protecting girls from predators in girls’ bathrooms.” He included the hashtags “Vote the Democrats Out” and “Home School” as his solutions to this decision from the board.
Republican Tom Horne, Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, was closely following this contentious meeting and subsequent outcome, telling AZ Free News his “prediction is that many parents will not want their daughters to attend a school where biological males can come into the girls’ restrooms.” He said he had “received many texts and emails from parents who say their daughters were very upset when this happened.”
After seeing her motion end up on the losing side, Rebecca Hill wasn’t willing to accept defeat on behalf of the girls in her district who may have been – and still may be – faced with encounters with biological males in their restrooms and locker rooms. Hill stated, “I would advise parents to use their vouchers elsewhere. I don’t endorse PUSD anymore. I can’t. I would advise that parents take the ability at this time to take their vouchers, which have been given to them, and use them in private schools, use them on online, home school your kid. Choose the curriculum. Choose what happens with their livelihood, with what is going to happen with them in the future. Public education isn’t going in the right direction. This is not what I want to see for our district.”
Hill’s comments referred to the universal Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA), which were expanded by the Arizona Legislature in 2022 and signed into law by then-Governor Doug Ducey. The program is run under the watchful eyes of Horne at the Arizona Department of Education, and it is rapidly increasing in popularity among Arizonans. In an email communication this past Friday, an ESA Account Holder Liaison wrote that there were now 53,704 Arizona students in this program. That number will continue to grow in the weeks ahead as more parents hear about this program and the opportunities to choose the educational direction for their children.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 12, 2021 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
One week into Peoria Unified School District’s (PUSD) school year, parents are already reporting that their students have been required to quarantine until they receive a negative test result – even if they’re not symptomatic or feeling sick in the slightest. Students are required to quarantine 10 days at most, 3 if they test negative for the virus. However, these rules don’t apply to everybody.
Only fully vaccinated individuals, “essential worker” educators that are asymptomatic, and those who’ve recovered from COVID-19 in the last three months aren’t required to quarantine. According to PUSD policy, the district will continue to quarantine all others exposed to COVID-19 at the discretion of Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH). If the county determines that there’s been an “outbreak,” they will require all students exposed to the infected student to be quarantined.
Educators may remain in school so long as they wear masks if they’ve been exposed and are asymptomatic – but unvaccinated, asymptomatic students who haven’t contracted COVID in the last three months must go home.
“Students, staff, and educators who are close contacts of someone who has COVID-19 and are not fully vaccinated (or have not tested positive for and recovered from COVID-19 in the prior 3 months) must quarantine away from others for up to 10 days following their last exposure per MCDPH. Importantly, per CDC, ADHS, and MCDPH, all close contacts who have been fully vaccinated (starting 2 weeks after the final COVID-19 vaccine dose) do not need to quarantine if they do not have any symptoms. In other words, if identified as a close contact, the need to quarantine depends on a person’s COVID-19 vaccination status and/or COVID-19 infection history. MCDPH recommends that close contacts be tested for COVID-19 3-5 days following their last exposure, regardless of vaccination status.
Close contacts who must quarantine need to be excluded from school and extracurricular activities during their quarantine period. The duration of quarantine is either 10 full days or 7 full days following their last exposure, as long as a COVID-19 test performed on day 6 or 7 is negative and the contact has no symptoms. If a staff member or an educator is determined to be a close contact who must quarantine and they are considered to be an essential worker (as designated by the school), they can continue to work during their quarantine period if they do not have any symptoms and wear a mask while working. Please see the Quarantine Guidance on the MCDPH website for more detailed information.” (original emphasis included and emphasis added)
Previous Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas told AZ Free News that quarantining healthy students is negatively impacting their education. Douglas referenced the stunted reading skills of younger children who’d done distance learning due to COVID-19.
“The parents I hear from, they’re not happy. They don’t want their kids quarantined, potentially without an illness,” said Douglas. “We’re taking very extreme responses to something I don’t think deserves such an extreme response and we’re not looking at the damage it’s doing to our children’s learning.”
Douglas relayed the story of one mother who’d confided that her son was forced to quarantine 6 times for COVID-19 exposure – altogether, he missed 2 months of school – but he never became sick.
The former superintendent asserted that this continued exercise of power has gone too far.
“Unfortunately, and this in my opinion, they’ve just pretty much been given free reign to do whatever they want to do – I think it’s the old saying, absolute power corrupts absolutely,” said Douglas.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by azfreenews1 | Jun 20, 2021 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
An insulting comment emailed from the principal of a Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) elementary school to another employee in which she called some parents “whackos” and criticized the district board’s handling of a meeting has been called out by a former Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Diane Douglas called on PUSD Superintendent Dr. Jason Reynolds to publicly address “the overt and covert contempt which has been and continues to be expressed towards the community” by Tonja Neve, who is principal of the Desert Valley Elementary School in Glendale until June 30.
“That board meeting was ridiculous,” Neve wrote on Feb. 1 to Jennifer Mundy, an administrator of another district school. “”I’m sick of us giving these whackos a platform to spread propaganda without making any correction statements.” Neve was referring to about one dozen parents who addressed the board about Critical Race Theory.
Another email between Neve and Mundy that day shows the principal believed the administration “has some control to quiet those pushy voices.” She also provided information about a court case which reinforced the power of principals to set boundaries in parent-school communication.
Douglas directed her comments at Reynolds in an opinion published last week in the American Daily Independent. But she was not merely relying on her experience from 2015 to 2018 in a state executive office where she was responsible for ensuring the accurate and lawful distribution of nearly $6 billion in education funding.
In her comments, Douglas points out she has an even bigger reason for speaking up, having been elected as a member of the PUSD board from 2005 to 2012, serving as board president in 2008 and 2009.
Douglas’ letter was prompted by PUSD’s release of some of Neve’s emails in response to a public records request. There was also the fact the school’s American flag was displayed inverted on June 14 – Flag Day.
“As if an employee of a government school, funded by taxpayer dollars, referring to the parents and citizens who pay her salary as ‘whackos’ was not bad enough, now there is the displaying of an inverted American flag,” Douglas noted to Reynolds. “Such utter disrespect to our country and the very citizens she is hired to serve would be disgraceful on any day. But that such a stunt occurred on June 14th Flag Day –the day we honor and commemorate the adoption of the American Flag– makes it all the more inexcusable and unforgivable.”
Douglas added that “the only saving grace is that school is out of session and the students weren’t witness to such blatant disrespect of our flag by an entity of the very government it represents.”
Neve’s contract with PUSD expires June 30 after which she will move her family to take a principal position at an elementary school in New Hampshire. Earlier this month she issued a statement about her emails.
“My comments were unprofessional and I apologize for that,” Neve said. “My comments were in regards to audience members who were coming to our board and calling teachers out by name and misconstruing and devaluing the hard work they do. My comment was made in the heat of the moment and in defense of my profession and colleagues.”
But Neve’s departure should not be the end of issue, Douglas told Reynolds.
“With all due respect, in my humble opinion, the Board and the PUSD community are entitled to an explanation as to how administration intends to handle such incidents of disrespect toward the community going forward,” she wrote.
by Corinne Murdock | May 16, 2021 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
An online social justice curriculum funded by Big Tech giants, EverFi, promised $15 gift cards to teachers who successfully got other teachers to start their students on one lesson.
According to an email obtained by the AZ Free News, Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) teachers were incentivized with $15 Amazon gift cards by an EverFi director of K-12 implementation. One of EverFi’s foremost contributors is Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos through his investment company, Bezos Expeditions.
“As a thank you, earn a $15 Amazon gift card for every teacher you refer who gets students started on one EVERFI lesson – just click the Invite a Teacher button (terms) I’m here for you – schedule a time with me to support you and/or your students,” read the email.
[pdf-embedder url=”http://azfreenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/everfi.pdf”]
PUSD has incorporated EverFi for years, according to staffers.
Key resources highlighted on EverFi’s website focus on social-emotional learning, an offshoot of critical race theory (CRT); health care equity; and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
https://twitter.com/EVERFI/status/1392232687692288000
Curriculum obtained by AZ Free News showed that EverFi lesson plans included the histories of Juneteenth and affirmative action, assertion of systemic racism, and the promotion of equity instead of equality.
Last September, EverFi committed $100 million to expanding their social injustice and economic inequity lenses within their K-12 education curriculum. [RELATED: EVERFI Announces $100 Million Commitment to Address Systemic Social Injustice and Economic Inequity through Free Digital Education for Nation’s K-12 Schools]
EverFi is advertised as free for K-12 teachers. The company reportedly offsets the cost through national and regional partners.
PUSD staffers confirmed that although the district has used EverFi for around a decade, educators use it sporadically. In an email obtained by AZ Free News, Executive Director of K-12 Curriculum & Professional Development Marla Hobbs claimed that few teachers utilize Everfi. She added that those who do use the resource use it on odd occasions.
EverFi was founded in 2008, with a focus on obtaining major corporate sponsors to fund their educational initiatives.
Now, over a decade later, they have accomplished just that. Some of their noteworthy contributors over the years include Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO; Evan Williams, founder of Twitter, Medium, and Blogger; and Eric Schmidt, Google Executive Chairman.
Other big businesses also have their hands in Arizona’s public education. Companies like Boeing and Wells Fargo are part of the Arizona Educational Foundation Board, an initiative focused on bringing social justice to classrooms. The Arizona Educational Foundation has pushed a program called “Our World,” which aims to provide educator and business training and workshops on antiracism, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Much like EverFi, Our World is free of charge to Arizona schools.
Corinne Murdock is a contributing reporter for AZ Free News. In her free time, she works on her books and podcasts. Follow her on Twitter, @CorinneMurdock or email tips to corinnejournalist@gmail.com.
