Superintendent defends district’s handling of Centennial High teacher misconduct allegations

PHOENIX — The superintendent of Peoria Unified School District told Centennial High School families Monday that district officials met their legal obligations as mandatory reporters in a case involving two former teachers accused of sexual misconduct, defending the district amid mounting public scrutiny.

In a letter to families, Superintendent KC Somers said the Peoria Police Department confirmed in writing on April 2 that there was no indication district officials failed to meet their obligations as mandatory reporters under Arizona law.

“Student safety is the foundation of everything we do at Peoria Unified,” Somers wrote. “It is the standard I am held to, the standard I hold our principals and staff to and the standard you should expect every time you send your child to one of our schools.”

Somers noted the district’s internal review reached the same conclusion as police on the legal reporting standard. He added that the review identified separate administrative concerns, but they have been “addressed through appropriate personnel action.

Actions against the two former Centennial High teachers

The letter detailed actions taken against the former teachers, identified by ABC15 as Angela Burlaka, 47, and Haley Beck, 27.

The TV station reports Beck is accused of exchanging more than 4,000 text messages with a teen student in 2025. In those, the teacher and teen discussed “meeting up to have sex, drinking alcohol, smoking weed.”

Beck also allegedly sent the student $630 over a month and a half, according to police.

“After review of the evidence I believe Haley had a sexual relationship based off a financial obligation,” court records reportedly said.

In addition, police records allege the same student was sent sexually explicit videos from Burlaka.

The Arizona Department of Education accepted Burlaka’s voluntary surrender of her teaching certification on Jan. 26, the same day the district terminated her, Somers said.

Beck was found responsible through the district’s Title IX process of violating the governing board’s policy on sexual harassment, and a statement of charges to terminate her was adopted on March 26.

Her teaching certificate remains under investigation by the State Board of Education.

The Peoria Police Department has submitted its findings to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review.

Superintendent acknowledges frustration over pace

Somers acknowledged public frustration with the pace of the reviews underway.

“I recognize that some of these processes — Title IX, personnel action, criminal review, state certification review — are unfamiliar to most families, and that the time they take can feel at odds with the urgency you rightly feel,” he wrote. “These are the systems that exist to make sure outcomes are lawful and durable, and we have used every one of them.”

National attention and a TikTok connection

The case has drawn national attention in part because Beck is the sister of TikTok personality Noah Beck, who has more than 33 million followers, ABC15 reported.

Somers said the district is reinforcing protocols for how staff respond to student safety concerns, including reports that come through students, social media or community members.

“Every staff member knows, and is reminded that the standard for reporting is reasonable belief, not certainty, and that the district supports staff who report concerns in good faith,” Somers said.

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