Tobey, Jeffrey

Meet the Candidate

Running For:
School Board
District:
Peoria Unified School District
Age:
38
Occupation:
Police Sergeant
Education:
BA from ASU in Communications
Family:
Wife and four children
Religion:
Jewish
Biographical Info:

My name is Jeff Tobey, and I am 38 years old. I’ve spent most of my life in Arizona. I graduated in the top 1% of my class from the Deer Valley School District and earned a full-ride scholarship to Arizona State University, where I majored in Communications. I am a proud husband and a father of four fantastic children-three daughters and a son. My wife is a military commander stationed locally. Our eldest daughter recently graduated from Peoria Schools and will be attending college this fall, while our three younger children are currently or soon will be in the PUSD system.

I have dedicated 20 years to policing, with the last 8 years in leadership roles. Throughout my career, I have been honored with the Medal of Merit and Medals of Lifesaving, along with numerous commendations and accolades. I am also a graduate of what is now known as the Frontline Leadership Program, which equips leaders with the skills needed to succeed in this dynamic field.

In addition to my professional responsibilities, I have served in various volunteer roles, including safety chairman for my place of worship, religious school teacher, and parent advocate within the district.

Statement:

As a parent advocate within the district, I had the opportunity to mediate between parents and the superintendent, as well as other site leaders across the district. The more I learned and worked to assist parents, the more I felt compelled to join the board and have a direct vote. There are many issues within the district-likely too many to resolve in just four years-but that doesn’t deter us from striving to improve and make PUSD the safest district in the state. With my children still having a long journey through this district, I feel it’s my duty as a father to ensure they receive the best education possible.

Endorsements:

AZ Women of Action

Survey

Response Legend

  • SSupports
  • OOpposes
  • *Comment
  • −Declined to respond
  • †Declined to respond, Position based on citation

Question Response Comments/Notes
1. Requiring district and charter school officials, including teachers, to inform parents about their child’s social, mental, emotional, or physical health. S
2. Allowing parents to opt their children out of activities or lessons that offend their personal, moral, or religious beliefs. S
3. Increasing state and local taxes to provide more funding for schools and school facility projects. O* PUSD currently has a $66 million Reserve Trust Fund, according to prior budget documents. Despite a decline in enrollment of over 1,000 students in the past 12 months, the district avoids tough discussions about overhead and assets, & instead turn to taxpayers for more money. The district is promoting the bond initiative as a zero-tax increase, but this claim is misleading—it’s taking advantage of the tax decrease on property taxes and raising it up a little, still resulting in reduced taxes to each homeowner, but not as much as it would be without the bond.
4. Requiring signed permission from a parent before a student may participate in any sexuality related instruction, activities, or clubs. S* I don't believe school systems should be teaching sexuality related instruction, have activities, or even clubs since many of the leaders within the district cannot first define what a women is accurately. Topics such as this should be an opt-in, not an opt-out.
5. Allowing all parents to use tax credits and publicly funded empowerment scholarship accounts to enable their children to attend any private, homeschool, or online academy of their choice. S
6. Making available books and instructional materials that include sexually explicit images and themes in school classrooms and libraries. O
7. Acquiring parental consent for school faculty and staff to refer to students by pronouns that do not align with the student’s birth sex. S* On the other side of this issue - I also do not believe in forced speech and the mandating the use of certain pronouns that do not align with the student's sex at birth.
8. Allocating teacher pay raises based upon merit rather than providing uniform salary schedule increases based upon years of teaching or additional credentialing (e.g. master’s degrees) S* I would like to explore ways we can fairly assess a merit-based system.
9. Implementing policies to allow students and faculty to use the restroom, locker room, and shower room based on self-identification rather than biological sex. O
10. Teaching what is known as diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI); social, emotional learning (SEL); or critical race theory (CRT) in public schools. O
11. Requiring each district and charter school to post online a list of all curriculum and instructional materials being used in the classroom. S