PEORIA — The Peoria Unified School District Governing Board voted 3-2 to report allegations that one of its members leaked confidential information to a reporter to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, KTAR News reported.
The board didn’t initially name the member, but Heather Rooks spoke up to defend herself. She said the issue involves a Sept. 22 interview with 12News in which she criticized the district’s transparency about a teacher sex scandal at Centennial High School. “I did not disclose confidential executive session discussions,” she said, calling the last-minute agenda item an “ambush.” She walked out after the vote.
Board President Jeff Tobey said there were enough questions to send the matter to the attorney general, the appropriate investigating authority.
The board has been divided for months over the case of former Centennial teachers Haley Beck and Angela Burlaka, who were fired and are under criminal investigation over alleged inappropriate relationships with a male student. Rooks, who was demoted as board president in May, has accused the district of covering up failures to follow mandatory reporting laws.
Sources: KTAR News. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Tony the Marine (talk) / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
