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.
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 most important issues they believe face the district.
The candidates are Melissa Ewing, Heather Rooks and Devon Updegraff-Day.
Here are their responses.
Heather Rooks
What do you believe are the three most important issues facing Peoria Unified?
I believe the three most important issues facing Peoria Unified are academic learning loss, transparency of academic resources being used in the classroom and fiscal responsibility.
Please describe the approach you would take to solve each of these three issues if elected.
Academics: First and foremost financial resources must be allocated to improving student achievement. An example of some of those resources can be tutors and teaching assistants in the classrooms.
Transparency: Curriculum and all online resources used for classrooms need to be made available online for parents and tax payers to view. Parents have a right to know what is being taught to their children at any time during the school year.
Fiscal Responsibility: Peoria Unified spent $1.2 million on social and emotional learning.
That’s an insane amount to be spending which has no academic value. We should be hiring tutors/assistants for student achievement and SRO officers for safety.
Devon Updegraff-Day
What do you believe are the three most important issues facing Peoria Unified?
Student performance: While private school, charter school and parochial school students barely skipped a beat during the COVID-19 chaos, PUSD students were frequently kept out of the classroom because of ridiculous COVID-19 safety measures. As a result, PUSD student performance went from bad to even worse. In 2019, 52% of PUSD students were below proficiency in math; that number has jumped to 64%. In 2019, 55% of PUSD students were below proficiency in English Language Arts; today it has jumped to 58%. I think it is time for the PUSD board to reflect on their current vision, “Every student, every day, prepared to shape tomorrow,” to determine if their current path is truly preparing students for shaping tomorrow.
Student behavior/safety: PUSD has slowly implemented various social emotional learning, multi-tiered system of support, positive behavioral intervention and support and most recently restorative practice programs all which require significant financial funds for training and implementation. Each one of these behavioral methods have limited research on whether implementation has beneficial or harmful outcomes. Reports of severe bullying that include attempting to push a boy down the stairs, a kindergartner bringing a knife to school and threatening a classmate are just two examples of worsening behavior among students.
Lack of fiscal responsibility: The district tends to take the easy route when it comes to making important financial decisions that directly affect the kids. Contracts with outside organizations, weekly teacher training and the addition of a significant number of social workers with the help of ESSER funds are just a few examples of where district spending has gone very wrong.
Please describe the approach you would take to solve each of these issues if elected.
Curriculums need to be significantly pared down and greatly simplified. Phonics needs to be emphasized as well as transitioning to comprehension reading rather than reading fluency. I understand it is difficult to transition away from common core math as common core math is used for state testing, but I believe it is important to not teach specifically to state testing. The district should start to move back toward full incorporation and emphasis on Saxon math. A portion of the teacher in-service days should be spent offering student tutoring, catching up on necessary work or mentoring with fellow teachers to improve on any weaknesses.
Just as curriculums and supplemental resources have become excessive and complicated so have the behavioral modification programs. Many teachers have had success managing their classroom and do not require outside organizations enforcing new techniques. Teacher mentorship, classroom observation with constructive criticism by a teacher mentor must be encouraged and rewarded. In-school suspensions should be enforced; students who misbehave should spend in-school suspension doing janitorial work and cleaning up after their peers. If a student is caught destroying their school campus, they should be required to be included in the repair. I believe in the saying, just because a problem is complicated does not mean it requires an equally complicated solution.
Melissa Ewing
What do you believe are the three most important issues facing Peoria Unified?
High student needs: Schools and teachers face a unique challenge in meeting the high academic needs of students due to the pandemic. School closures, health concerns, family stressors and altered learning platforms created gaps in student knowledge in core subjects, disrupted scaffolding teaching, increased student/staff depression and anxiety, increased 504 plans and IEPs accommodations, and increased negative student behavior. This requires more individualized learning and support at a time when staffing shortages are at a critical level. Families are facing more financial stressors due to increased inflation and food and housing insecurities, which has resulted in high family and community stress.
Teacher and support staff shortage and retention: PUSD is at a critical staffing shortage. The district is responsible for staffing to ensure learning can occur and students can be safely supervised. The lack of available workforce has made this an exceptional challenge. Thus, the district must use current teaching staff to cover more classes, increase students in already overcrowded classrooms, collapse sections, strategically relocate educators to schools in greatest need, fast track emergency substitute certificates and train existing staff to handle more responsibilities. The increased workload will create an immense amount of pressure/ stress on an already overworked, underpaid workforce. This is not just a problem unique to PUSD, it is a problem across most districts.
School Safety: In addition to ensuring schools can open safely and provide stabilization resources for our students and families, schools need to ensure campus safety of all students and staff. The increase in school shootings, violence and threatening behavior toward people of color, LGBTQ status, non-Christian faith, and accessibility to weapons has led to many parental and community concerns regarding student and staff safety.
Please describe the approach you would take to solve each of these issues if elected.
Robust workforce that is skilled in servicing students with all needs: Providing training and professional development that focuses on mitigating and supporting students with food, shelter and financial insecurities as well as health concerns, abusive home life, physical and learning disabilities, gifted learners, health depression and anxiety along with the anger and aggression that results, all become obstacles for student success and involvement in schools. We need a robust workforce that understands the unique challenges each student faces outside the classroom and how it affects achievement inside the classroom. We need schools that can provide resources to these students and families and teachers that are trained in supporting them academically.
Workforce sourcing: Leveraging community and university partnerships to create a pipeline of highly skilled educators, nurses and professionals who are prepared to work and meet the academic needs of students. Promoting and marketing a robust volunteerism and substitute teacher recruitment program to fill immediate supportive roles within the schools.
Retainment of current staff: Providing competitive salaries, benefits and giving opportunities for professional group is imperative in retaining staff. Budgetary constraints can make this a challenge, however finding ways to give stipends, bonuses and scholarships can offset lower wages. Building a positive, supportive and respectful work environment. Awarding professionalism and promoting career growth is imperative in retaining skilled staff.
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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