PEORIA, AZ — One day after Peoria Police conducted a search warrant of Peoria Unified School District offices, parents and community members showed up to the district’s board meeting Tuesday night but were unable to comment on anything outside the annual budget approval.
The police investigation involves alleged sexual misconduct by two former teachers at Centennial High School.
The meeting’s agenda was pared down to only include the budget approval and the appointment of a new position.
General public comments and board comments were removed from the agenda, which the district said was limited to "items critical to the district's continued operations.”
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"Just to bring the community along about this public hearing,” Board president Jeff Tobey said. "This was kind of a little bit of a conversion based on timing and us having to relocate, so today is strictly about business.”
Two other board members criticized the decision to not include general comments on the agenda.
“You’re taking away the fundamental right of speaking, public speaking and First Amendment rights, and I just want it on record that I don’t support this,” board member Janelle Bowles said.
Amid the ongoing police investigation, the board met afterward in a closed executive session to receive legal advice about the "Centennial High School Investigations and related search warrants.”
"This is a huge disruption on — school starts in a few weeks, and we want information. We want to support the police in doing their jobs,” Brittany Anderson, with the Peoria United Parent Council, said. "We love our schools, we love all the people in our schools. We love our kids and their experiences in the schools, and so we're just really trying to stay aware and wait for information before we jump to any conclusions.”
The district said there will be another board meeting next week, which will include regularly scheduled items, including an open call to the public.
The district did not give any official comment Tuesday night beyond their existing statement, which reads in part:
"The Peoria Unified School District is disappointed by the Peoria Police Department's decision to execute a second search warrant at the District Administration Center and Cholla Annex today, which closed district operations for the day and may affect operations in the days ahead. An extended closure would negatively impact the district's mission of educating the thousands of children it serves.
Since the execution of the first search warrant on May 28, 2026, the district has cooperated fully with the investigation — as it always has — through numerous written and verbal exchanges, providing available information and records, answering questions, offering to run additional searches and making district personnel available for further discussion.
The district was therefore surprised by today's action by the Peoria Police Department, which was carried out despite our ongoing cooperation and repeated offers of assistance. The district remains committed to working with the Peoria Police Department, renews its offer of full cooperation and looks forward to returning to its critical work of preparing for the start of the school year and educating children as soon as possible."
After executive session, multiple board members spoke with ABC15 about the decision to pare down the meeting and the public communications following the police search warrant.
Board members Heather Rooks and Janelle Bowles criticized the district’s statement, expressing disappointment in the police action.
Rooks said she would like to see the superintendent and communication director put on paid administrative leave while the police investigation continues.
“I am sorry to the parents. I did not support that email. That was wrong to do,” Rooks said. “Our first responsibility is not to protect the institution; it is to protect children. Institutions can recover, reputations can be rebuilt. But when a child is harmed or a child’s safety is put at risk, the consequences can last a lifetime.”
Board President Jeff Tobey said the use of “disappointed” in the statement was to express the surprise of Monday’s search warrant.
“I think the disappointment is more in the fact that we’ve been so collaborative with the police department that this was a little bit of a surprise,” board chair Jeff Tobey said. “I do feel like we missed the mark a little bit on our messaging with our community, and I’ve had discussions with our admin as well as Mrs. Proudfit, and so we are trying to rectify that essentially.”
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