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Peoria school board meeting moved after raid
The Peoria Unified School District relocated its board meeting to Marshall Ranch Elementary School following a police raid tied to an investigation into two former teachers. FOX 10's Andrew Christiansen reports.
PEORIA, Ariz. - A Peoria Unified School District board meeting was relocated to Marshall Ranch Elementary School on July 7, a day after police executed a search warrant at the district’s headquarters, closing operations for several days.
Law enforcement officers are seeking evidence related to allegations that former teachers Angela Burlaka and Haley Beck engaged in sexual relationships with the same male student at Centennial High School.
What they're saying:
Parents attended hoping to get more answers about the ongoing investigation, but public comment was canceled.
"It's not just the student and the teachers involved. It impacted all the students at Centennial," said Larae Perez, a former parent in the Peoria Unified School District.
Beck is also accused of sending the student thousands of texts, offering sex, and giving the student cash, drugs, and alcohol while tampering with his grades. Burlaka allegedly sent the victim explicit videos.
"I don't condone at all what the teachers did. I would never want my child in that environment," said Ashley Perryman, a parent in the Peoria Unified School District.
The board fired Beck, and Burlaka forfeited her teaching license. While police have recommended charges, so far neither woman has been arrested. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office is currently reviewing both cases.
The district states that it has been fully cooperating with the investigation and says officials were surprised by the July 6 search warrant.
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(Previous report) Police raid Peoria school district headquarters
Authorities executed a search warrant at the Peoria School District headquarters on July 6 over allegations that two former Centennial High School teachers sexually abused a student. FOX 10's Taylor Wirtz reports.
Dig deeper:
"The search warrant might be looking for any sort of notes on campus, any sort of emails that might be in their email system, any sort of evidence that could help prove the case for the prosecution," attorney Benjamin Taylor said.
At the meeting, the board canceled public comment.
"That's never happened before. This is a regularly scheduled meeting, not just a public hearing, but a regular scheduled meeting, and that should not have been removed," said Heather Rooks, a Peoria Unified School District board member.
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However, board President Jeff Tobey says the intent wasn't malicious.
"There is no attempt to silence or shut out the community. This is the specific and implicit purpose of this public hearing," Tobey said.
Parents say they are upset by the decision.
"Parents just don’t understand why. We come to ask questions … and removing the public comment doesn’t allow us the opportunity to do that," Perez said.
The board did not discuss the allegations in the meeting and did not have an agenda item to do that.
What's next:
The Governing Board will hold an additional meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 16, to address district business not included on the agenda.