Peoria Unified governing board members deny accusations surrounding teacher sex case

Peoria Unified School District governing board members are pushing back on allegations that the district withheld documents from police investigating a teacher sex scandal.

Board members also disputed claims that school officials failed to report information before the investigation was opened.

Part of the Peoria investigation is related to a video made by governing board member Heather Rooks that claimed students had made administrators and teachers aware of the alleged sexual misconduct involving teachers and students going on at Centennial High School, but that information was not reported.

Board member Becky Proudfit told the KTAR News 92.3 FM Mike Broomhead Show on Wednesday she had “not seen evidence” that students went to administrators with details that were not reported.

“We don’t have record of any of those students coming to actual authorities but instead they went to TikTok and it became a social media centered conversation. The hard part is as a school district we don’t have control over what your child does on social media and that’s why I think it’s really important to remember that the number one mandatory reporter is parents as well,” she said.

Last week Proudfit said the district was putting extra safety precautions in place to give students a pathway for reporting incidents on campus.

She said the most impactful thing a parent can do is make sure they’re aware of their child’s social media presence.

District also facing legal accusations over its handling of documents

The district has received two search warrants from the Peoria Police Department requesting documents related to the case of former teachers Angela Burlaka and Haley Beck, who were allegedly involved in sexual misconduct with a student at Centennial High School.

The first search warrant was served on May 28, two weeks after police submitted multiple public records requests to the district.

The Peoria Unified School District then filed a motion asking a judge to review the warrant and determine whether the requested information could legally be disclosed.

Board President Jeff Tobey told the Mike Broomhead Show that the clarification was about attorney-client privilege and protecting student information.

“As the board president, I am the legal liaison on with the board and the attorney. And so it’s my role to kind of have that interface with the attorney and the superintendent. So it wasn’t my direction at all. It was the direction of the district,” he said.

Rooks suggested in a social media post at the time that the warrant was issued because the district did not provide information police had requested.

The second search warrant was served earlier this month, with police searching the district’s administrative office for related documents.

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