Peoria Unified says it would have provided documents included in 2nd search warrant

The Peoria Unified School District said it is fully cooperating with police despite being served two search warrants as part of an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against two former teachers.

“We are committed to ensuring investigators have everything they need to conduct a complete and thorough investigation,” the district said in a statement Friday.

The Peoria Police Department served its second search warrant on the district last Monday and proceeded to search the District Administration Center and Cholla Annex until Thursday night.

The court-authorized warrant was for specific materials related to the ongoing criminal investigation, Peoria Police said in a statement.

“We recognize the public interest in this matter and remain committed to conducting a fair, thorough and impartial investigation. Additional information will be released when appropriate and when doing so will not compromise the integrity of the investigation,” the police statement said.

After the second warrant was served, the district released a statement saying it was “disappointed” by how the search delayed preparations for the coming school year, which starts Aug. 3.

The district said it fulfilled the first warrant and has been providing police with additional requested records.

“The July 6 warrant sought records outside the scope of the original request, records the district was prepared to provide directly,” the district said Friday.

The district also clarified that its concerns about the second search weren’t about how police handled it.

“Our disappointment was with the disruption to our school-opening preparations, not with the investigation itself, which we have fully supported,” the district said.

The first search warrant was served on May 28, two weeks after police submitted multiple public records requests to the district, and included specific documents related to former Centennial High School teachers Haley Beck and Angela Burlaka.

At the time, district said it was given until June 5 to provide police with documents, with the district filing a motion asking a judge to review the warrant and request an extension. The request was denied.

Peoria Unified teacher sex scandal background

Burlaka and Beck are accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student while they were teachers at Centennial High School.

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 district has been under fire for how it responded to the allegations against the teachers. The case drew national attention because Beck is the sister of popular content creator Noah Beck, who has more than 30 million TikTok followers.

A former Centennial High School student reportedly is seeking $20 million to settle his claim that the district failed to protect him from sexual abuse.

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

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