50+ Arizona Educators Disciplined: Cases Include Sexual Abuse, Murder, Leaving a Post-Suicide Instruction Journal in Classroom, and Reporting to Work Intoxicated
Warning: This article contains graphic content related to sexual misconduct, suicide, and substance abuse involving educators. Reader discretion is advised.
We knew today’s Arizona State Board of Education meeting would be intense. Just last Thursday, during a State 48 News interview with homeschool mom Stacey Brown, she was notified mid-interview that the state was pulling the ESA handbook off the agenda.
While many families spoke out today about proposed caps on how school choice families can spend their education funds, what caught our attention was something even more alarming: dozens of cases involving alleged crimes against children inside Arizona’s schools.
ESA mom Brandy Blackford testified.
“ESA isn’t something parents should accept with multiple levels of restrictions or go back into public schools. Based on what Miss Hale said earlier, I don’t want to ever put my children - especially my two little girls - back in public school.”
Let’s start with what Ms. Hale said.
During public comment, the former educator shared that while substituting in a 6th grade social studies class at Scottsdale Unified School District in May 2023, she noticed two mirrors placed side by side at the front of the classroom.
Veronica Hale, the substitute teacher, delivered the harrowing personal account today, recounting her experience navigating Arizona’s mandatory reporting system.
Hale, who previously testified before the Senate Education Committee in February while advocating for SB 1437, described in greater detail how following the law led to retaliation and systemic failures instead of protection.
Her testimony underscored the urgent need for stronger reporting requirements and accountability measures, warning lawmakers that without real safeguards, those who try to do the right thing are often left exposed — and students remain at risk.
Hale’s story made an impact. In a move aimed at closing long-standing gaps in school misconduct reporting, Governor Katie Hobbs has signed Senate Bill 1437 into law earlier this month.
The new statute broadens Arizona’s mandatory reporting requirements to include school district governing board members, charter school governing bodies, and substitute teachers — making them legally responsible for reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or unprofessional conduct directly to law enforcement. Crucially, reports made only to school resource officers or campus safety officers no longer satisfy the law.
Allegations of sexual misconduct must now be investigated by law enforcement, with student interviews handled exclusively by trained forensic professionals. The law also shields whistleblowers from retaliation, an acknowledgment of the chilling effect past failures to protect reporters have had. SB 1437 signals that Arizona officials are under growing pressure to enforce real consequences when red flags are raised inside the classroom.
Hale’s disturbing testimony in the morning at the Arizona State Board of Education meeting was followed by 51 cases of educator misconduct in the afternoon.
State Board of Education Faces Scrutiny Over Soaring Discipline Cases and Lack of Administrator Accountability
Comments from a public speaker at today’s Arizona State Board of Education meeting raised new questions about the Board’s handling of educator discipline. Speaker Patrick Mannion pointed to the 2023 Enforcement Action Report, noting that while there were just 55 adjudicated cases in 2012, that number jumped to 272 in 2023 — a 394% increase over the decade. Mannion also highlighted that 51 cases were on today’s docket alone and questioned the speed at which cases were pushed through during the last Board meeting. Perhaps most notably, Mannion said that in the past ten years, none of the adjudicated cases involved school administrators.
Mannion’s time ran out before he could expand on his warning — but we reviewed the afternoon’s hearings and can show you the types of cases the Board considered, and just how quickly all of them were handled.
TYPES OF EDUCATOR DISCIPLINE AND HOW CASES ARE HEARD AND DECIDED.
You can view the full agenda here. Below, we’re highlighting a few cases from each category.
Items 7 through 9 on the agenda all involved disciplinary action against educator certificates. Each action was approved in consent-like votes without individually reviewing or discussing any of the cases in public session.
Here are just a few examples.
Voluntary surrender of the educator certificates or right to work in an Arizona District or Charter School
A School District HR Director notified the Investigative Unit that an Educator failed to properly report allegations of sexual misconduct alleged by a special needs student. “The student disclosed that his father performed oral sex on him because his father wanted the special needs student to know what it felt like.”
A Schooll District notified the Investigative Unit of allegations that a JROTC Military Instructor “engaged in inappropriate communication with two female cadet students (age 17-18) for several months. (The messages were discovered in an encrypted chat application called “signal”. The contents of the messages were about drugs, alcohol, sexual situations and descriptions, as well as violent acts).”
An Educator “engaged in inappropriate text and Discord messages/relationship with a student.”
An Assistant Superintendent notified the Investigative Unit of allegations that an Educator “exchanged nude photos with a student dating back to September 2021.”
Whiteriver Unified School District HR Director notified the Investigative Unit that an Educator was “being investigated by the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office for the Sexual Abuse of three different students.”
Arizona Department of Public Safety Fingerprint Clearance Card Unit notified the Investigative Unit that an Educator “was arrested on January 2, 2025, in Williams Arizona for Felony Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child.”
Talent Director at a High School District notified the Investigative Unit of allegations that an Educator sent a sexually inappropriate note to a student. “Was not reported to local law enforcement.”
Revocation of any and all educator certificates
The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing based this revocation on reports that an Educator “reported to work twice while under the influence of an intoxicating substance.”
Non-issuance and/or revocation of any and all educator certificates or revocation of the right to work in an Arizona District or Charter School
In August 2024, an Arizona educator - Davonte M. Neal - pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder in Maricopa County Superior Court. The educator was sentenced in October 2024 to 20 years in prison. The conviction constitutes unprofessional conduct under state regulations and warrants the immediate and permanent revocation of the educator’s certification. Arizona Sports reported Neal a former University of Arizona football player and assistant coach at Idaho State, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in August 2024. The charge stemmed from the 2017 shooting death of Bryan Burns in Tempe, Arizona. Neal was arrested in 2022 after a nearly five-year investigation.
In another case, “On December 9, 2024, Educator,” also licensed in Arizona, ”was working at Widmeyer Elementary School, a public school located in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. Classroom video footage shows Educator placed her full upper-body weight on a six-year-old student’s hands on three different occasions during the day. On one occasion, the student’s hands turned purple. In an interview with a West Virginia State Police sergeant, Educator admitted to hurting the student.”
Summary suspension of any and all certificates
“As alleged in the Indictment, Educator intentionally or knowingly engaged in sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact with a minor under the age of eighteen (18) years.”
“Phoenix Police Department (“PPD”) Officer Lacey Jarrett received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”). The cybertip originated from Kik, Inc., a free instant messaging app. Kik, Inc. reported one of their subscribers possessed six (6) media files of child pornography.”
Negotiated Settlement Agreements
A student reported that an educator engaged in an inappropriate conversation after she disclosed her parents banned her from a social media app due to her contact with older men; the educator commented that such behavior could lead to consent issues. Students also alleged the educator made them uncomfortable by staring at them and appearing to record them on his phone while they filmed a TikTok dance.
“Respondent's arrest, reporting that on July 7, 2022, Respondent was arrested for her second DUI since 2016.”
“Respondent allowed a student's parent to enter the classroom with a belt to give the student ‘a whooping.’"
A “student’s parent reported to the School’s principal that Respondent had been texting her daughter. Respondent messaged the student using a channel not approved of or supervised by the District.”
“School principal heard from five fourth-grade students, who reported Respondent would hug students, rub students’ backs, sit on students when they sat in his chair, and ask students to give him back massages in exchange for lollipops.”
The State Board of Education’s Investigation Unit received a complaint alleging that a substitute teacher engaged in unprofessional conduct while teaching an eighth-grade class at Legacy Traditional School – North Chandler in April 2024. Students reported that the substitute made inappropriate sexual comments, referenced foot fetishes, joked about "nuts" while handing out pistachios, made vulgar remarks about women, showed students a video mocking a girl with Down Syndrome, and encouraged them to throw radishes like grenades. “"The metal plate in his head was not the only thing that was hard." The incidents were reported to the regular teacher the following day.
A substitute teacher discovered a black semi-automatic handgun, ammunition, suicide notes, and a post-suicide instruction journal in an unlocked cabinet inside a former teacher’s classroom at a Goodyear school. The school was placed on lockdown, and police responded to the scene. The teacher later admitted to police that she had placed the gun there weeks earlier and had previously experienced suicidal thoughts. She was arrested at the school.
Presentation, discussion and possible action to approve the findings of fact, conclusions of law and recommendations of the Professional Practices Advisory Committee
“(1) Respondent failed to disclose a substantial personal interest in Hunt & Caraway Architects, who she recommended and approved the District’s hiring of; (2) Respondent knew of SUSD CFO’s conflict-of-interest with a SUSD vendor but failed to act; (3) Respondent made false statements regarding her knowledge of the CFO’s conflict-of-interest; (4) Respondent recommended and approved of hiring Louis Hartwell, who is the brother of a person with whom she shared a bank account; (5) Respondent promoted Mr. Hartwell, who doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree, to a position which requires an M.B.A. degree; and (6) Respondent approved of District funds to be used to hire and pay her personal counsel, based on her belief that her contract with SUSD allowed her to hire a personal attorney to defend her personal reputation.”
“The driver Respondent collided with informed GPD officers that, before they arrived, Respondent had gotten out of his vehicle and began throwing “things,” including what appeared to be a bottle, into nearby bushes and under the vehicle. GPD officers searched the area and found an empty beer can, a small bottle of alcohol, and a glass jar with a leafy substance that officers believed to be marijuana. In Respondent’s vehicle, GPD officers discovered four beer cans (two empty, two full) and an empty “alcohol box.”
Not a single discussion on any case.
THE MORE YOU KNOW.
Pulled from today’s agenda was the State Board of Education’s 2024 Educator Discipline Report. The Board oversees discipline and sets the rules for how teachers and school staff must behave.
The agenda reports, since 2018, the Board has reviewed an annual report summarizing all educator discipline cases it has officially ruled on, covering cases from 2012 through the end of each year. The report tracks basic information like the types of misconduct, educator backgrounds, and what actions the Board took. It’s meant to give the Board a big-picture update — but it does not include every complaint that gets reported to investigators.
Here is the 2023 Enforcement Action Report from the Arizona State Board of Education.
State 48 News will continue to follow this story.