Ballot Math / School districts / Peoria Unified
School board race and measures: Peoria Unified School District

Peoria Unified: two seats on a divided board, plus the override voters rejected last year

November 3, 2026 general election. Nonpartisan, at large: vote for up to two for the board. Peoria Unified School District No. 11 also asks voters for a 13 percent operating override (Proposition 428) and permission to sell two properties (Proposition 429).
How this race works: two of the board's five seats are up, both for four-year terms, and both incumbents are running. Three candidates are on the ballot; vote for up to two and the top two win. Board service is unpaid.

Heather Rooks (incumbent)

First elected in 2022. Lifelong Peoria resident with children in the district. Endorsed by Turning Point Action. She served as board president until she was ousted from that role in 2026 after criticizing the district's handling of the Centennial High School case described below.
  • Record and controversies, per Arizona Republic reporting: outspokenly opposed to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies; in 2023 she sued her own district after being advised to stop quoting the Bible during board meetings; in 2024 a transgender former teacher sued her alleging gender discrimination.
  • On the Centennial case: she was the board's most public critic of how the district handled the investigation and its publicity, which is what cost her the presidency.

Melissa Ewing (incumbent)

First elected in 2022; two of her children attended district schools. Per the Republic, she has sometimes been the odd one out on board votes, including voting against the anti-DEI policy Rooks presented.
  • Stated priorities (her campaign site): strengthening community literacy, career and technical education programs, and increasing transparency in the budget process.

Desiree Byrne

Newcomer, also endorsed by Turning Point Action. She is married to an educator and has two children who have attended Peoria Unified schools.
  • Stated priorities (her campaign site): support for administrators and classroom staff, who she says get too little support for their workload; limiting technology in K-8 classrooms; expanding career and technical education partnerships; and addressing neglected school facilities.

The context: the Centennial High School case and a board at odds

Per Arizona Republic reporting: beginning in 2025, two former Centennial High School teachers were investigated over allegations that each had a sexual relationship with the same student. The fallout reached district leadership: the Centennial principal announced his departure in May 2026, two assistant principals resigned in June, and Superintendent K.C. Somers announced his departure in February. A previous interim superintendent later alleged publicly that he was coerced into stepping down; the board then appointed Tayla Visintainer, previously the district's chief human resources officer. The board has split publicly over how the investigation and its publicity were handled, and the Republic's October 8, 2026 article (linked below) lays out where each candidate stands on it. That divide, more than any policy paper, is the live issue in this race.

Proposition 428: a 13 percent maintenance and operations override

In one sentence: Peoria Unified may exceed its state operating budget limit by 13 percent for seven years, raising an estimated $32,824,128 in the first year (fiscal 2027/28), at an estimated tax rate of $1.10 per $100 of net assessed value.

An override is not a bond. It pays for operations, mainly salaries, class sizes, and programs, rather than buildings. The district presents Prop 428 as a continuation of its existing 13 percent override. Context that matters: Peoria voters did not approve the override in 2025, and the district cut $11 million from its maintenance and operations budget as a result. Overrides phase down when they are not renewed, so the practical choice is between restoring the full 13 percent and letting the reduced funding level stand.

The math for your household

About $261 a year for the average homeowner

That is the Arizona Republic's figure for the average Peoria Unified homeowner. The district's own rate math: $1.10 per $100 of net assessed value. On a home with $25,000 of net assessed value (roughly a $250,000 market value home at the 10 percent residential assessment ratio), the override costs about $275 a year. Higher-value properties pay proportionally more.

A YES vote

The full 13 percent override is in place for seven years, restoring about $32.8 million a year of operating budget the district says supports staffing and programs.

A NO vote

The override continues phasing down and the district operates at the reduced level it adopted after the 2025 rejection, cutting further or absorbing the loss in class sizes and programs.

The strongest case for YES

  • The 2025 experiment already ran. Supporters note voters can see exactly what a no produces here: an $11 million operating cut in a growing district, and the override is the standard mechanism Arizona gives districts to fund operations above the state formula.
  • It is a continuation rate, not a new tax. At $1.10 per $100, the district frames the rate as approximately the level homeowners paid when the override was last in full effect.

The strongest case for NO

  • Voters already answered this. Opponents argue the 2025 rejection was an instruction, and returning the same ask a year later, amid a governance scandal, asks taxpayers to fund a board many of them distrust.
  • Trust is the tax. Critics of the district's recent leadership say new operating money should follow demonstrated accountability, not precede it.

Proposition 429: permission to sell two properties

Prop 429 asks permission to sell, lease, or exchange two sites: the District Administration Center and the former Kachina Elementary property, at 6330 W. Thunderbird Road in Glendale. Kachina closed at the end of the 2025/26 school year. A yes grants authority only: no buyer, no price, and no deadline is named, and each deal would still need governing board action. A no keeps both properties in district hands unless the district asks again. Site sale questions carry no direct tax impact.

Verification notes

  • School board campaigns file finance reports with Maricopa County. No raised or spent totals for these three campaigns appeared in the coverage we reviewed; we print no totals rather than guess.
  • The district's informational pamphlet describes Prop 428 as a continuation at 13 percent; the Republic reports that voters did not approve an override election in 2025 and that the district cut $11 million. We present both facts as sourced rather than reconciling the phase-down arithmetic ourselves.
  • Details of the Centennial case are summarized from Republic reporting and are allegations and findings as reported there; criminal and personnel matters were still developing in the coverage reviewed.

How to vote without getting your ballot rejected

  • Mail it by Tuesday, October 27, 2026. After that day, do not mail it: use a drop box or a vote center instead.
  • It must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3. Postmarks do not count.
  • Sign and date the affidavit envelope, and write a current phone number on it.
  • Leaving any item blank is allowed. In the board race you may vote for one candidate, two, or none; it does not affect the rest of your ballot.

Sources

Ballot Math: analysis only, no endorsements. Every candidate in this race got the same template: background, stated priorities, the record that exists, and honest notes where the record is thin.