Peoria Unified board replaces president after heated public comments and debate over Centennial probe

Peoria Unified’s governing board elected Jeff Toby as board president at a special meeting on May 5, 2026, replacing Heather Rooks in the leadership role after contentious public comment and debate over whether Rooks’ public statements and requests for outside review jeopardized ongoing investigations.

The vote followed more than two hours of public comment that split the community. Dozens of parents, teachers and students urged the board either to remove Rooks from leadership for what they called unilateral media actions or to keep her for pressing for accountability. Supporters said Rooks’ outreach to the Maricopa County Attorney and public calls for further review were necessary steps to protect students; critics said her comments risked interfering with a criminal investigation and damaged trust in due process.

Rooks told the board she acted as a private citizen and parent when she filed a formal request with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and spoke to the media about material in the Centennial police report. “As a private citizen, a parent, and a taxpayer, I made a formal request to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office asking Rachel Mitchell to review whether mandatory reporting laws were properly followed,” she said. Rooks also warned that removing her from leadership because she spoke on student-safety issues could chill others from raising concerns.

Board member Jeff Toby said the board had previously voted to pause a district-funded third-party investigation to avoid interfering with criminal proceedings. He explained his vote in favor of new leadership by citing the risk that parallel probes could compromise witness testimony or criminal cases. “When I saw the third-party investigation on the agenda … I felt with a reasonable degree of certainty that we could take a tactical pause and not do anything that might harm or interfere with the county attorney’s investigation,” Toby said.

Board attorney Susan Siegel told the board that policy and statutory interpretation supported calling the special meeting and outlined limits on what the board could access from Title IX and similar investigative reports, citing confidentiality provisions (she referenced 34 CFR 106.71 in her explanation of Title IX confidentiality).

In officer elections the board first considered a motion to elect Heather Rooks as president; that motion failed on a voice vote (recorded in the meeting as three nays and two yays). A subsequent motion to elect Jeff Toby passed (three yays, two nays). The board also considered several nominations for clerk; after two failed nominations it retained the current clerk (recorded in the transcript as Mrs. Prowdfit) by a 3–2 vote. The meeting adjourned at 8:29 p.m.

Public speakers repeatedly raised two core, competing claims: that President Rooks had advanced necessary transparency for student safety by filing complaints and going to the media, and conversely that her statements risked prejudicing investigations and harming individuals named in initial reports. Several speakers cited multiple investigations already under way — including inquiries by Peoria Police Department, the Arizona Department of Education, Title IX review, the district’s HR, the county attorney, and the board attorney — and warned that premature publicity could jeopardize criminal prosecutions.

The board’s immediate actions were procedural: a leadership change at the dais and retention of the clerk. The underlying criminal and administrative investigations, and decisions about any additional district-led inquiries, remain separate and ongoing. The board did not take formal disciplinary action against any employee during the meeting; board members said they would continue compiling a factual timeline and follow legal advice about next steps.

What’s next: the elected president, Jeff Toby, will preside over future meetings. Several speakers and board members said they expect continued scrutiny from the community and from investigative authorities. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the Peoria Police Department were presented in public comment as active investigative bodies; board counsel reiterated that some investigative reports (Title IX findings and other confidential materials) are not public record and cannot simply be distributed to the full board.

(Reporting from the May 5, 2026 Peoria Unified Special Governing Board meeting.)