A Peoria Unified School District mother and school board candidate was forced this month to request an injunction against an activist parent. Heather Rooks, a mother of four school aged children, obtained the injunction last week based on perceived threats from Democrat activist, Josh Gray.
Among the incidents cited by Rooks was one in which Gray, who is also a parent of a child in the District, was applauded by members of a Facebook group for being in “stalker mode” when a District employee shared Rooks’ address and phone number with him after he suggested that he would disrupt a private meeting she was having at her home.
In another thread, Gray admitted to “being aggressive to which a District staff member responded, “sometimes aggressive is good!”
Gray advised members of a Facebook page, “Peoria Drives Change,” that he was coordinating with Yourvalley.net/peoria reporter, “Phillip Haldiman on a story about combative PUSD candidates: if any of you have any screenshots of comments or posts made by Devon or Heather that are argumentative or mean please send them my way!”
Gray was referring to Devon Updegraff, who is a close friend of Rooks and a candidate for the Peoria Unified School Board.
The type of behavior that led Rooks to file for the injunction, was also evident in a message he sent to Updegraff Day.
“I heard you had a meeting today at Heather Rooks house. Tell her I say Hi. I’m sure I’ll see you around,” wrote Gray in reference to the private meeting previously mentioned. As previously reported in the Arizona Daily Independent, “parents said his “creepy” behavior forced them to cancel the parent meeting in order to deny him an opportunity to potentially engage in more aggressive behavior.
Rooks says it was Gray’s behavior that led her to request increased security at the public debate between Peoria Unified School District Governing Board candidates scheduled by Yourvalley.net. Even though Rooks had been recently made aware of Gray’s alleged collusion with Haldiman, she was still ready to participate, but not without added security.
At a recent meeting of the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board, Rooks was so concerned about what she describes as Gray’s menacing presence, that another community member and supporter of Rooks delivered comments to the Board in support of Rooks.
Still, she remains undaunted in her pursuit of a seat on that Board as part of her effort to increase parental representation and support student education.
“I am thankful for our court system and the judge for granting the injunction against harassment to protect myself and my family during this time. I want to thank the community support for the safety of myself and my children. I will continue to stand up for children’s education and will not waver from my commitment.”
According to court documents, Gray was served at the beginning of September for a pre-hearing of the injunction case and did not respond.
The judge granted the injunction after hearing the testimony of Rooks and her witnesses along with the evidence she submitted. One piece of evidence was a photo from Gray’s Twitter page taken of Rooks and Updegraff-Day without their knowledge in a parking lot of a school.
The injunction also covers Rooks’ children for protection.
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