Hey, hey, hey, Secular Fam, it’s October, and the scents of pumpkin spice, fall leaves, and christofascist bullsh!t are heavy in the air. So much has happened in the past week, I don’t even know where to start! I’m about to break down the Deer Valley (DVUSD) board meeting, but before that, a quick recap of school board happenings is in order.
Peoria (PUSD) “Christian” Board Member Heather Rooks made it all the way to the Washington Post because she doesn’t know how to read silently. And since Secular AZ was the first organization to educate her on the Constitution and Establishment Clause, we got some national attention as well. You can read our statement about Rooks’ lawsuit here.
Read the entire post on Secular AZ’s Substack.

Jeanne Casteen, Secular AZ Executive Director
JEANNE CASTEEN has a bachelor’s degree in human communication and history from the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at ASU and a master’s in education, also from ASU. Jeanne has over 11 years of experience teaching in Maricopa County’s public schools. In 2011, Jeanne completed the Emerge Arizona program and in 2012 became a school board member of the Creighton School District. She served as Board President from 2016 through 2020. In 2020, Ms. Casteen ran for Maricopa County School Superintendent, and came within 12,000 votes of winning. She has been awarded the Arizona School Public Relations Association Award for Excellence in Advocacy and Political Contributions to Education as well as the Arizona School Board Association’s All-Arizona School Board Member Award.