Assault and sexual misconduct cases involving educators increased again last year, per a new report from the Arizona State Board of Education (SBE).
SBE’s annual Enforcement Action Report publicizes a summary of disciplinary action undertaken against public educators in the year prior. Private school and homeschool educators aren’t subject to SBE discipline unless they hold an SBE-issued certificate.
The board discussed their 2025 findings within the report during their regular meeting on Monday. Jessica Mueller, SBE’s policy and research administrator, noted that last year represented the first time that half of complaints came from school officials.
In 2025, SBE adjudicated 381 cases. 203 cases involved assault, 113 cases involved sexual misconduct (53% ), 34 cases involved substances (30%), 25 cases involved fraud (6%), and six cases involved breaches of contract (2%).
The report noted that assaultive behavior cases have been increasing over the past decade, and increased sharply in number between 2023 to 2025.
“The Board continues to prioritize the investigation of sexual misconduct allegations due to their direct implications for student safety; however, the increase in assault-related cases in recent years has shifted the overall composition of adjudicated cases,” stated the report. “Despite year-to-year fluctuations, sexual misconduct and assaultive behaviors consistently comprise the majority of cases reviewed by the Board.”
Mueller noted during her presentation to SBE that while assaultive misconduct has become the largest category of adjudicated cases reviewed by SBE, these types of cases don’t necessarily involve students or occur on school grounds.
57% of adjudicated cases involved male educators, and 43% involved female educators.
Taken in the context of the overall educator workforce size, SBE said there were a “relatively small number of cases involving misconduct” last year.
“Although each case represents a serious matter requiring careful review, disciplinary actions constitute a very small fraction of Arizona’s education workforce, demonstrating that misconduct by educators resulting in board discipline is uncommon,” stated the report.
The overall population of educators hit with disciplinary action remains low: over 98% of the state’s education workforce weren’t subjected to SBE discipline, per the report.
SBE also noted that legislative changes in recent years have expanded the scope of their oversight. In 2021, SBE received authority to investigate and engage in disciplinary action against noncertified personnel. In 2024, SBE received additional oversight authority and an expansion of its resources.
Even so, SBE reported that it managed to reduce the average adjudication time from 14 months to 10 months.
Mueller remarked during Monday’s presentation the board has hopes that recent policy changes will further expand their impact while continuing the compression of adjudication times.
Last year, SBE adopted a rulemaking package updating policy on hearings, due process protections, and reinstatement procedures rules.
SBE is petitioning the legislature to continue investing in the board’s integrated case management system, expand ethics and prevention training statewide, and increase outreach and technical assistance to schools and preparation programs.
Looking ahead, the board said it would prioritize those initiatives aiming to prevent misconduct: data tracking to include in-classroom versus out-of-classroom misconduct and compliance with settlements, communications with county superintendents and other educational partners, and public awareness campaigns to increase usage of misconduct preventative resources.
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