Suspensions, training recommended for 5 Chandler school administrators

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

Recommended consequences have been issued by an Arizona Department of Education committee for five administrators connected to a series of reported Chandler Unified School District teacher incidents.

The department’s Professional Practices Advisory Committee makes recommendations that are forwarded to the board and considered at a subsequent board meeting.

The PPAC recommended, after four days of hearings that ended Jan. 31, consequences for Jeff Filloon, Craig Gilbert, Jayson Phillips, Ryan Ridenour and Shelamae Woodworth.

The hearings were held after alleged mishandling of accusations against now-former Casteel High School theater arts teacher Patrick Power.

The Arizona State Board of Education’s next regular meeting is set for Monday, Feb. 24.

The series of incidents, according to parents who’ve spoken at board meetings, involve accusations that seem to focus on incidents in February and March of 2021. Five middle-school students told Ridenour — then an assistant principal at grades 7-12 Casteel — that Power, a technical theater teacher, was touching them in inappropriate ways.

When finally confronted, Power surrendered his educational credentials, effectively retiring. A series of accusations were then levied in the months and years that followed over student resource officer involvement in reporting the incidents and whether district administration took proper reporting steps.

The PPAC recommended:

• Filloon, who took over this year as Chandler Schools’ human resources director when Wendy Nance retired, would receive a three-year suspension with conditions of any and all certificates if the state board agrees, PPAC records state. He would also need to complete grooming training and mandatory reporting training.

• Gilbert, the district’s associate superintendent for pre-K-12 educational services, would receive a letter of censure with conditions and would need to complete grooming training. Gilbert’s retirement at the end of this school year was announced at a December board meeting.

• Phillips, who was then the Casteel principal, is now the principal at Santan Junior High School. He would receive a three-year suspension, with conditions, of any and all certificates, along with grooming training.

• Ridenour, who was an assistant principal at Casteel in early 2021, is no longer a district employee and it’s unclear if he’s still working in Arizona education. He also would receive a three-year suspension of his certificates and have to attend grooming training.

• Woodworth, Casteel’s assistant principal of curriculum, would get a one-year suspension of certificates and grooming training, if the state board accepts the committee’s recommendations.

Grooming training is defined by the U.S. Department of Education as designed to recognize “the warning signs in a phase that might be nonsexual and include the offender trying to move the relationship to a personal level.”

The recommendations were made after several days of hearings in which parties for and against administrator discipline were allowed to call witnesses before the PPAC. At least one of the five administrators — Gilbert — also testified on his behalf.

Bruce DuPlanty, deputy director for the State Board, told the Chandler Independent that consequences are delineated per educator and applied individually, and in most cases, PPAC administrative hearings are heard on an individual-case basis.

On rare occasions when cases overlap in details, events, involvement and other factors, the PPAC may hear cases as a consolidated hearing, such as it did with the CUSD case in late January.

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.   Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org.

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.