Peoria Unified School District served with search warrant related to teacher sex scandal

Police served a search warrant Monday related to its investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against two Peoria Unified School District teachers.

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

Police previously served the Peoria Unified School District with a search warrant on May 28, two weeks after submitting multiple public records requests to the district. At the time, district said it was given until June 5 to provide police with documents related to Haley Beck and Angela Burlaka.

Ahead of that deadline, the district filed a motion asking a judge to review the warrant and requesting an extension. According to the district, the motion was filed to gain clarity on what the search warrant is seeking and to protect attorney-client communications.

Peoria Unified School District Governing Board member Heather Rooks implied in a post on X that the May warrant was the result of the district not giving the police the information they previously requested.

The district said the new warrant was for information outside the scope of previous one.

Peoria Unified School District issues response

The Peoria Unified School District released the following statement about Monday’s police activity:

The Peoria Unified School District is disappointed by the Peoria Police Department’s decision to execute a second search warrant at the District Administration Center and Cholla Annex today, which closed district operations for the day and may affect operations in the days ahead. An extended closure would negatively impact the district’s mission of educating the thousands of children it serves.

Since the execution of the first search warrant on May 28, 2026, the district has cooperated fully with the investigation — as it always has — through numerous written and verbal exchanges, providing available information and records, answering questions, offering to run additional searches and making district personnel available for further discussion.

The district was therefore surprised by today’s action by the Peoria Police Department, which was carried out despite our ongoing cooperation and repeated offers of assistance. The district remains committed to working with the Peoria Police Department, renews its offer of full cooperation and looks forward to returning to its critical work of preparing for the start of the school year and educating children as soon as possible.

To clear up misinformation that is spreading on social media, no district employees or Governing Board members were taken into custody. The district reminds the media and the community that individual Governing Board members do not speak for the Peoria Unified School District or the Governing Board.

In order to approve its annual budget in accordance with ARS 15-905, the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board will hold its previously scheduled Regular Board meeting at 6 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, July 7, at Marshall Ranch Elementary School in the cafetorium. Marshall Ranch Elementary School is located at 12995 N. Marshall Ranch Drive in Glendale. Due to the change in location, the meeting will not be livestreamed, but it will be recorded and posted on the district’s website following the meeting.

A condensed agenda is available on the district’s website and is limited to items critical to the district’s continued operations.

Our goal remains the same: fully cooperating with police, so they can complete their work as quickly as possible – so we can prepare every campus and classroom for a successful start to the new school year.

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.

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

Related

Peoria Unified governing board request a judge take a closer look at search warrantPeoria Unified School District served with search warrant in teacher sex scandal caseFormer Peoria Unified student reportedly seeks $20M to settle sex scandal claimSalt River Project offers Arizona teachers $400 classroom grantsWittmann English teacher wins ‘Pay Tribute to a Teacher’ award for JulyPeoria Unified adds new hotline for students to report questionable behavior