Peoria Unified says recent Centennial High School resignations are unrelated to teacher sex scandal

The recent resignations of two Centennial High School administrators are not related to a teacher sex scandal at the Peoria campus, according to district officials.

Assistant principals Katie Rituper and Kelley Smalley accepted jobs outside the district, a Peoria Unified School District spokesperson told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday.

“I will note this is not in relation to the investigation at Centennial High School,” the spokesperson said.

The district has faced widespread backlash over the handling of a case involving Angela Burlaka and Haley Beck, who are accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a male student while they were teaching at Centennial.

Burlaka, 47, surrendered her teaching certification on Jan. 26, the same day the district terminated her. Meanwhile, the district fired Beck, 27, on March 26 for violating its sexual harassment policy.

The case drew national attention because Beck is the sister of popular content creator Noah Beck, who has more than 30 million TikTok followers.

Fallout from Centennial High School teacher sex scandal

Peoria Unified officials have been under fire for how they responded to the allegations against the teachers and possibly failing to follow the state’s mandatory reporting laws.

Former Centennial High principal Scott Hollabaugh and former Peoria Unified Superintendent K.C Somers resigned in May.

Earlier this month, a former Centennial student notified the Peoria Unified School District of his intention to file a lawsuit related to the high-profile sex scandal.

On May 28, the Peoria Police Department served Peoria Unified with a search warrant for documents related to an investigation into the allegations.

The district then filed a motion asking a judge to review the scope of the warrant and requesting an extension to produce the documents.

Peoria Unified School District Governing Board member Heather Rooks suggested the search warrant was initially issued because the district did not provide information police had requested.

Previously, the board removed Rooks from the role of president after she asked the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to look into how Peoria Unified employees handled mandatory reporting, allegedly acting against the board’s due process.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

Subscribe to the KTAR Eyes on Education newsletter to get our top education stories, exclusive guest interviews and more to your email inbox.

Related

Former Peoria Unified student reportedly seeks $20M to settle sex scandal claimPeoria Unified School District served with search warrant in teacher sex scandal casePeoria Unified replaces board president amid teacher sexual misconduct allegationsArizona voters to choose Republican and Democratic nominees for top education positionFormer Mesa High School official claims that an inaccurate police report destroyed his careerFormer ASU President, who elevated university’s status, dies at 89