Peoria Unified School District cut the microphones and cameras during the September 12 board meeting. Attendees were told it was due to “technical difficulties” while an IT expert stood with his back against the wall for three hours.
The meeting wasn’t broadcast because community members exposed Ironwood High School counselors and other staff who ordered children’s books from the predatory GLSEN “Rainbow Library.” Public records revealed that shipments of inappropriate reading materials came in around the same time two PUSD employees were arrested for sexually exploiting Peoria High School students.
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The suppressed board meeting also included a motion to extend the Biden Mental Health Service Professional grant. These COVID-19 funds came with options to expand school-based healthcare clinics. The motion rightfully failed in a 2-2 split vote, with PUSD Board President Rebecca Proudfit voting along conservative lines with Board Member Heather Rooks (it was a one-time thing as far as controversial issues are concerned).
When the grant fell through, I gathered from Superintendent Dr. K.C. Somers’ reaction that he rarely hears the word “no.” Many constituents were surprised by his vigorous exchanges with an otherwise docile Proudfit. My strongly worded email expressing disdain for Somers’ unprofessional behavior can be read here. May these words inspire parents, taxpayers, and even teachers to respectively, albeit directly challenge the authority of rogue administrators.
Now, the September 26 board meeting was broadcast for the whole world to see. This was PUSD’s moment to shine and whip that mainstream narrative. Proudfit, who initially voted to reapply for the grant in June and flipped on the 12th, predictably fell in line on Thursday night. Watch her debut below, bearing in mind she was an actress in her previous, privileged life.
Why did Proudfit cave? Maybe it was the pressure of narratives like this one from 12News. The broadcast featured a blonde woman who also identifies as conservative while aligning with liberal ideas, namely social-emotional learning and unlicensed psychotherapy on school grounds. Did Proudfit see herself in that woman?
Or, perhaps she heard the comments from two pimpleheads at KTAR News—“Outspoken” podcast hosts Bruce St. James and Larry Gaydos. They ignorantly claimed the Biden grant was “free money,” and cr(ass)ly declared that Proudfit and Rooks would have “blood on their hands” if students committed suicide. These dangerous and deranged comments could only come from beta males who spent the episode fawning over a female guru from Save Our Schools Arizona.
Circling back to the latest board meeting, several school social workers’ speeches came across like well-rehearsed lines from an episode of All My Children. Everyone was on the verge of tears, leading me to believe PUSD students are not the ones with emotional problems. A few speakers in, I had to leave the room to avoid putting my mental health at risk!
Nevertheless, there was one comment worth highlighting.
This parent explained that her son recently lost his step-sister before starting second grade. This is an unimaginable tragedy for any family. I hope PUSD didn’t exploit this woman in front of the community to score publicity points for their radical agenda.
The mother said, “We hadn’t found a counselor yet when second grade started…The social worker at our school helped us find an amazing counselor, psychiatrist…and we’ve been working with her for a year…She’s done so much for our family.”
This, I submit to you, is the role and function of a legitimate social worker. They are licensed practitioners who offer stability, provide resources, and connect students and families with other respected professionals in times of crises. Coping with the death of a loved one is an emotionally unpredictable situation for even the strongest person (let alone a 7-year-old). Thus, government schools are not an appropriate place to engage in long-term or private grief counseling sessions.
The speaker went on to say that her son’s elementary school principal served her a legal notice of intent to have her incarcerated for her son’s absences. Respectfully, this wouldn’t have been resolved by an unlicensed, DEI-trained, social worker intern. Rather, the situation called for the legal kind of counseling that may have recommended temporary homeschooling or hybrid learning to circumvent truancy-related charges and fines. Still, three minutes is not enough to assess anyone’s situation and I’m sure there’s more to this story.
Ultimately, I disagree with the parent calling on Proudfit and Rooks to resign, especially since their vote against the grant was tied to fiscal responsibility, and the lady’s son was not harmed in any way.
Chaos and confusion would have been prevented if someone in Chief Communications Officer Danielle Airey’s department had shown up to work to notify the public that PUSD still has 30+ social workers and no student will go without the help they need. Airey also could’ve wrapped up that statement by letting everyone know that Proudfit would be coached to smuggle the social workers’ employment contracts under Consent Agenda Item 5.2. Ultimately, the three psycho-emotional specialists—yes, only three were under the Biden contract—didn’t miss a day of work, and their jobs are now secure until June 2025.
The grand finale was Chief Personnel Officer Laura Vesley onboarding the new director of federal programs, a role that will likely serve to codify all the shenanigans parents have been fighting against for the last five years. Under this person’s leadership, I predict that any federal mandate tied to district funding will become “law” in PUSD, even if the mandate goes against the Arizona and U.S. Constitutions.
To be clear, no one is dogging on legitimate social workers who undergo rigorous training, clinical trials, board certification, state licensing, and achieve master- or PhD-level learning. What we are saying is that anything less than this labor—that still comes with access to other people’s kids—is lazy and dangerous. Emotional support activists, with fluid job descriptions and rainbow books on their desks, are not necessary in any school district.
Tiffany Benson is the Founder of Restore Parental Rights in Education. Her commentaries on education, politics, and Christian faith can be viewed at Parentspayattention.substack.com and Bigviewsmallwindow.com.
