The Peoria Unified School District has developed a reputation for secrecy, and last Thursday a mom, Heather Rooks revealed just how obstructionist its administration can be. During the August 12 Governing Board meeting, Rooks presented the Board with evidence of what appears to be a coverup of sorts.
Rooks explained that she, and at least one Board member, Rep. Beverly Pingerelli, on separate occasions had requested materials associated with a new American Studies course. The requests were made in part to concerns the women had as to the District’s embrace of Critical Race Theory-based curriculum and programs.
According to the women, in December 2020, District officials claimed that the materials for the class had not yet been determined and curriculum development and class lesson planning were in the early stages. As a result, officials denied their requests for information.
As Rooks pointed out in her address to the Board, not only was the curriculum developed, but it was nearly complete by October 2020. Rooks shared with the Board a copy of an email she had obtained through a Public Records Request. In that email, dated October 30, 2020, Centennial High School Principal Scott Hollabaugh writes:
Subject: New Course Request: American Studies
“Please find attached the course proposal, standards alignment, and syllabus draft for American Studies, a course that Diane Dunham and I would like to propose in cooperation with Ms. Alexa hart, a 2017 Centennial graduate and a current student at Northern Arizona University.
According to her LinkedIn bio, Hart, is majoring in Philosophy and minoring in Ethnic Studies and Economics. She is associated with the group, Women of T.R.U.T.H., which describes itself as wanting to “implement change here on campus for the colored population by fighting the injustices done to our people to ensure a better future for those who come after us.”
Despite the fact that the officials claimed the materials did not exist, administration in December 2020 put approval of the course on the Board’s agenda. Arizona law requires Board members to approve curriculum and make it available to the public prior to approval. Still, sight unseen, the Peoria Board voted with only the description of the class available to them:
The course will help cultivate respect and historical empathy for the experiences, struggles and achievement of a variety of American identities, including African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, LGBT Americans and other groups.”
One of the stated goals of the course is for students to become more conscious of the political, social and economic frameworks that impact Americans’ experiences.
Board member Judy Doane joined Pingerelli in voting against the agenda item.
Trust in the District has eroded this past year, as the pandemic forced remote learning, giving parents insights into the workings of the very classrooms their kids were being denied physical access to. This distrust stems, in part, from the fact that the District has denied offering Critical Race Theory-based lessons and programs while parents saw evidence of it if they spent mere moments watching their kids in the virtual classroom.
The District has done little to instill trust on every level. In response to an inquiry about the status of a records request, the District’s Public Relations Department stated, “It is currently taking us 2-4 months to complete requests as we process them in the order they are received.”