Now that the candidates for the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board have been firmly established, it’s time to get to know them better.
The candidates are Melissa Ewing, Heather Rooks and Devon Updegraff-Day.
Leading up to the Nov. 8 general election, residents can gain some insight as to who the candidates are through a series of questionnaires the Peoria Independent is publishing.
In this installment of the Independent's candidate Q&A series, we ask the three Peoria Unified governing board candidates about the divisive nature that has infected public schools.
Here are the candidates' responses.
Melissa Ewing
Things can be divisive these days. What can you do to help bring people together rather than divide?
Public school education’s purpose is to provide a high-quality education to all community children regardless of race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation and socio-economic status.
School staff and board members should be listening, problem solving, working extensively and collaboratively with stakeholders. They should be helping students overcome educational obstacles to academic success such as food and shelter insecurities, transportation, financial and school supply needs along with social/emotional stabilization services for our students and families to thrive academically. I commit to working collaboratively with students, families and staff to promote an environment of academic excellence while supporting our student’s needs in a positive, respectful way.
Every student and staff member should feel recognized, valued, supported and respected in PUSD. The policies and procedures of the district should reflect those values and vision. Every student should be provided opportunities for not only academic success, but also career pathways to be a successful community member beyond their primary education years. These values will guide my decision making when voting or approving policy, procedures and curriculum in PUSD.
Heather Rooks
Things can be divisive these days. What can you do to help bring people together rather than divide?
The reason there is division these days is because school districts across the country, including Peoria Unified, are trying to bring things into the classrooms that are not academics.
Sadly, there is this idea across the country that we should be teaching kids they are either oppressed or privileged based off of their skin color.
What happened to everyone just being American?
We need to teach students the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to respect each other for the content of their character regardless of race, skin color and nationality.
Devon Updegraff-Day
Things can be divisive these days. What can you do to help bring people together rather than divide?
I believe the biggest causes of both division and tension in PUSD is the districts failure to be transparent and communicate effectively with parents. Parents should not be forced to make public record requests to get information on their child’s curriculum. The board needs to start holding the superintendent accountable for the actions of those below him. If the board becomes aware of such actions as administrators directly lying to the board, an administrator directing a teacher to change the date or title to a specific assignment to avoid a parent from discovering what was taught or when Peoria Education Association members worked to shut down schools while on school campuses, during school hours, I believe direct actions must be taken.
The district has a long way to go to establish trust within the community and parents. I believe it is time for PUSD to start taking those steps toward rebuilding that broken trust.
Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman.
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.
By 
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here