Jeffrey Tobey
Peoria Unified School District, At-large
Tenure
Term ends
Years in position
Elections and appointments
Personal
Contact
Jeffrey Tobey is an at-large member of the Peoria Unified School District in Arizona. He assumed office on January 1, 2025. His current term ends on January 1, 2029.
Tobey ran for election for an at-large seat of the Peoria Unified School District in Arizona. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Tobey completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jeffrey Tobey graduated from Deer Valley High School. He graduated from Rio Salado College in 2007 and earned a bachelor's degree from Arizona State University in 2008. His career experience includes working in law enforcement and as a small engine mechanic.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Peoria Unified School District, Arizona, elections (2024)
General election
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Tobey in this election.
2024
Video for Ballotpedia
Video submitted to Ballotpedia
Released August 25, 2024
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Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jeffrey Tobey completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Tobey's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a husband and father of four children in the Peoria School District, with my eldest recently graduating and the others ranging from high school on down. My wife is a military commander who has served in various capacities worldwide. Our family loves traveling, sushi, and watching ‘Top Gun: Maverick’—often. My daughter and I also enjoy binge-watching ‘Law & Order’ together.
Since 2000, I’ve served the community in the police department as a volunteer, civilian, and sworn member. My career has spanned roles in patrol, school safety, tactical response, neighborhood enforcement, and traffic education. After my promotion in 2016, I had the opportunity to supervise over six different squads. I now serve as the administrative supervisor for a large precinct, managing personnel, budgets, and resources.
I also have experience as a Treasurer for a large association, where I successfully cut costs while increasing services. I’m a low-key, low-stress individual who knows how to handle conflict and achieve common goals.
We are also a proud Jewish family and strong supporters of Israel. - School Safety
- Improved Proficiencies
- Balanced Budgets
School Safety for sure! Having an entire background in public safety, I quickly and efficiently identify methods and tactics to make our schools safer. Many of these fixes are simple and have a low-budget impact. Not every gizmo or gadget is worth spending hard earned tax dollars. By putting policies in place along with practices - which means drilled to proficiency - we take away the ability, opportunity, and desire to have criminal elements target our schools. Safety also goes into the technological aspect (internet safety) which is a growing concern in school and social media. Lastly, the safety of the individual student (ie bullying, harassment, and off campus safety). All of which I look at comprehensively.
Several leaders whom I’ve had the privilege of working for during my career… they know who they are.
According to the DISC profile assessment I score a high “SI”. I also score closes to Ronald Reagan on the Political Likeness Test.
Elected officials need to be level-headed and open minded. A mentor once told me our minds are like parachutes, they don’t work unless they are open. Having a calm and level disposition and not reacting emotionally makes for better policy.
Regardless if you agree with me or not, I am considered Approachable, Trustworthy, and Fair. People from many political walks of life have shared with me these qualities they observe of me. I am also rated a 5-star supervisor from those I lead and peers groups around me.
It is important to understand a School Governing Board Member is there to provide for the well management of the district, oversight into policies and processes, and to provide direction to the Superintendent.
A legacy of courage to do the right thing, even when it may seem unpopular. The Bible speaks many many times of being of good courage and not to fear. Instilling a legacy of courage in spite of fear will help the next generation to become better.
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters by Dr. Meg Meeker. It taught me a lot about the impact of a father role backed up with research and that being a father is different from being a mother - and that is ok.
To see to the overall management of the district.
Constituents are all of the families who live within PUSD, the people who work in PUSD, and residents who reside and pay taxes into our district.
I would challenge the Superintendent to best analyze and drill down to what the actual needs are and what the specific asks are. So often in government the needs are misidentified and the solutions are already underway without any need for higher level involvement. If the needs of the district are properly identified and the need is within our power to accomplish, the board can then consider enacting policies to best help.
I have already built relationships within the district office, superintendent, local community groups, handfuls of the PTOs, and engaged in meet and greets with constituents. I will continue with these relationships and look to work with local organizations. Something I would like to see is closer partnership with the Lions Club, Business Alliances, and other volunteer organizations who support our children and education.
Good teaching is the ability to convey information to establish the foundation, grow the seedlings of ideas, and show pathways to critical thinking. Each level is measured differently, but I believe we should gear our focus to reading literacy and comprehension because it is the foundation of higher and lifelong learning.
Our crown jewel has been and continues to be our traditional school as well as our CTE and MET programming. We need to expand our Career and Technical Education Programs as well as our dual enrollment / IB. I also believe we need to find a solution to partner with West-MEC in order to provide a large portfolio of programming without having to incur the cost of them.
The single largest wealth building tool is income. We need to think of ways to get enrollment numbers to increase. Just within the last year, over 1,000 students have left the district. This equates to over $5 million dollars annually. Also working with our state and local political leaders to ensure our district is properly funded.
Intelligence drive tactics. The more we know about a threat, the better we can plan to stop it. Tactics such as access controls and CPTED designs are key. Partnering with our local Real Time Crime Center to facilitate communication and emergency response is a force multiplier. Camera surveillance are a must nowadays, along with a robust IT safety program.
PUSD has many partners with licensed and professional entities that can aid in the mental health needs of the district. I believe in creating partnerships, not institutions. PUSD is in the business of education, not psychotherapy.
Why did the skeleton not go to the dance… because he had no eyebrows! (My daughter made it up when she was 5, so its my favorite!)
I believe in fiscal accountability, and the discussion or presentation of topics requiring the spending of over $100,000 should be brought to the board. I also believe the policy regarding school social workers needs to be brought into compliance with state law, mandating proper licensure and not just a certificate from the ADE.
Arizona Police Association, Shawnna Bolick, Beverly Pingerelli, Frank Carrol, Linda Busam, Shiri Sapir, Heather Rooks, Rebecca Hill, Abe Hamadeh, Lori Bango, and others.
Safe, clean, and inspiring.
The district, while it was one of the first to open, refused to accept responsibility of the quarantine order decision making and always pointed back to the health department. The county health department left it up to the district. Being a pro-civil rights individual, quarantining a person requires due process - which the district knew and opted not to provide. In the future, following the law is what I would do differently.
I belong to several social media groups involving parents. As a parent advocate, I have begun the hard work to earn the trust of many parents within the district. I have had several successful mediation sessions with parents and the district, so having the parent relationship to me is something that comes naturally.
Amazing things have been accomplished by changing the culture within an organization. We may not pay the most money, but job satisfaction and environment goes a long way. I would also like to examine the possibilities of approaching teaching contracts differently than other districts to make PUSD more attractive.
Government bodies have the ability to have things such as open payroll and open checkbook tools to provide the greatest transparency to the community.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
External links
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 25, 2024
