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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March, 10th 2025
Phone: 602-341-5543
Phoenix, Arizona – The Peoria Unified School District shared its first draft of the nondiscrimination equal opportunity policy and its “women’s privacy policy,” establishing that “sex “ refers to an individual’s biological classification in the district.
Consistent with their previous attempts to ban transgender students from school facilities like bathrooms and locker rooms, pivoting to “protecting women’s privacy,” we can identify in the first reading of the policy to establish “women’s privacy” within the district, including establishing a ban on transgender students using the bathrooms they identify with.
“It’s clear that Ms. Rooks and the Governing Board do not seek to engage and educate every student in the Peoria Unified School District,” shared Natalia C., a Peoria Unified parent and graduate student at Grand Canyon University. “We don't always know what journey a student is on, but we can meet each student with empathy, kindness, and provide them a welcoming learning environment. These policies focus on exclusion, rather than inclusion, which research shows us is beneficial for all students”.
The policy draft comes after several efforts by council president Heather Rooks to establish restrictions on the basis of gender. In 2023, the governing board rejected a policy supported by Rooks that would restrict bathroom usage by nonbinary and transgender students. Unlike 2023, however, Rooks has an additional argument for such a policy: President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”
Executive orders are directives from the executive branch. These are not laws, so the opportunists like Ms. Rooks to try to leverage an executive order to get her district to “follow the rules” is misleading. These orders are meant to direct federal agencies and officials in enforcing laws and regulations already in place, not for local extremists to latch onto.
Education Action Alliance encourages students, families, and school community members to attend the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board Meeting on Thursday, March 13, at 6 p.m. to speak out against this rigid and seemingly unnecessary policy.
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Education Action Alliance (formerly the GLSEN Arizona Chapter) envisions healthy school communities free from discrimination where students, families, educators, and neighbors can thrive and succeed with joy, regardless of where you live or who you are. We work to dismantle barriers and drive systemic change in education by engaging in public advocacy and activating school community members through education and collective action.
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