The Peoria Unified School District has made available a list of applicants who will be considered as possible candidates to fill the seat of former governing board member Rebecca Hill, who resigned Aug. 24.
The community may now provide feedback via an online form on the district’s website. Comments will be provided to the PUSD governing board.
The district has 30 days from the notification of the vacancy to submit up to three names to MCESA, according to state law.
At the Sept. 7 school board meeting, the board is expected to consider the candidates and vote on three finalists. The finalists will then be sent to the MCESA.
MCESA Superintendent Steve Watson will have the final approval. He may or may not choose from the three final candidates.
Maricopa County School Superintendent Office spokesman Tim Sifert said each district has their own process for determining the three names, but the county always asks the district for information about all the people who applied. The county also receives public input through letters, emails and phone calls from constituents, he said.
“Generally applicants go through the district process first, but occasionally interested people notify our office they would like to be considered, and in that case we’d list them on our website,” Sifert said.
The following are the applicants who submitted to PUSD. To learn more about the candidates or give a public comment, go here. Public comment will be open until Sept. 4.
Joseph Bates: Insurance Service Specialist at Edward Jones
Sheri Bowes: Occupational Therapist
Janelle Bowles: Teacher at Montessori Tutor, former behavioral specialist at PUSD
Matthew Bullock: CEO at Accelera IT Solutions, former PUSD governing board president
Monica Ceja Martinez: Director of Operations and Community Relations at Arizona Council on Economic Education, former PUSD governing board president
Francisco Contreras: CTE teacher at Phoenix Union High School District
John M. De Lao: Business Operations Team Lead, Cable One
Timothy Everhard: Arizona certified teacher for Peoria and Deer Valley school boards
Melissa Girmscheid: Physics teacher in Tolleson Unified School District
Joshua Gray: DevOps Engineer at Carvana Co.
Crystal Hale: Instructional Coach at Salt River Pima Maricopa Tribal Government
Tricia Heller-Johnson: Principal at Washington Elementary School District
Bryan Hooper: Adoptions Case Manager at Department of Child Safety
Darrell Jackson: Health Unit Coordinator, Banner Thunderbird Medical Center
David Jonagan: Branch Manager at JP Morgan Chase, former PUSD board member
R. Matthew Klein: Cancer researcher, teaching/research experience at Albany Medical College, 2006-2012
Jessicah Lynch: Senior Retirement Plans Accountant, Bechtel Global Corporation
Megan Maxwell: Learning Acceleration Specialist, Office of Maricopa County Superintendent of Public Schools
Gary McIlvaine: Director of NAEP and International Assessment
Rebecca Osuna: 38 years of experience as an elementary school teacher, assistant principal, and assistant superintendent
Becky Proudfit: Site Council Member at Sunset Heights Elementary School in PUSD
Joe Rabon Jr.: Payroll Manager at Delaware North, former Grand Canyon Unified School District board member; Mariposa County Unified School District/Mariposa County Office of Education former trustee/president
Todd Schlinglof: Phoenix Fire Department Deployment Communications Supervisor
Laura Teposan: 25 years experience with Washington Elementary School District
Jeffrey Tobey: More than 20 years experience in public safety
Meet Philip Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.
Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater.
Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.
Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.
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