PEORIA, AZ — The Peoria Unified School Board voted to remove the board president from her role in a special meeting Tuesday night.
Heather Rooks, who was voted as board president in January, has now lost that title after the board voted 3-2 to strip that role from her and reorganize the board on Tuesday. Board member Jeff Tobey was then voted as board president. Rooks remains on the board.
The move comes after Rooks, and another school board member, wanted to move forward with a third-party investigation into the Centennial High School sexual misconduct allegations as well as the school and administrators' handling of it. The three majority school board members voted against it, wanting to have more feedback from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. The district’s superintendent defended the administrators' response to the Centennial High scandal.
Peoria Police have recommended charges for both now-former Centennial High educators Haley Beck and Angela Burlaka regarding sexual misconduct with the same student. Charges of pandering were recommended for Beck, while for Burlaka, they recommended charges of aggravated luring of a minor.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office says it’s still reviewing the two cases.
