Poway Unified School District trustees at their Dec. 14 meeting announced the law firm that will investigate Del Norte High School’s softball program, following complaints and a lawsuit that allege the superintendent harassed students after a softball banquet.
Outgoing school board President Darshana Patel said after a closed session that the district has retained the law firm Dannis Woliver Kelley to conduct a formal, independent investigation of the softball program “to ensure all students feel safe and supported.” The investigation will begin immediately, Patel said.
Patel did not say whether the investigation would look into the allegations against Superintendent Marian Kim Phelps, which Phelps has denied.
She said the investigators want to hear from individuals with firsthand and personal knowledge and experience of the softball program. Anyone who has “factual and material information” to share regardng the Del Norte softball program is asked to submit an email to DNHSSoftballInvestigation@DWKESQ.com, Patel said.
Last month, a softball player filed a lawsuit against the school district claiming that Phelps pursued a campaign of punishment and harassment against her and her teammates because she believed they did not clap loudly enough for her daughter, Jessica, at a softball awards banquet. Jessica Phelps, a pitcher, was named MVP at the event.
And at two board meetings last month, softball players, parents and coaches alleged that Phelps harassed players in the weeks following the banquet in an effort to get them to admit that they had conspired not to applaud Jessica. They have accused her of texting and calling another player late on the night of the banquet.
Marian Kim Phelps, superintendent of Poway Unified School District.
(Courtesy PUSD)
Phelps said her daughter was being bullied by another Del Norte High student leading up to and after the event.
She stated in a Nov. 15 letter to district staff that she was “saddened and shocked” by accusations that a small group of people made — that she had threatened students and abused her power following a softball banquet.
“Never at any time have I made threats towards any student nor tried to prevent them from graduating,” Phelps stated. “Never at any time did I fire a coach. Never at any time did I leverage my position as superintendent to interfere with the school’s investigation nor did I ask the school to initiate one.”
At a Nov. 15 special board meeting, trustees issued a statement in which they announced the investigation: “The Poway Unified School District Board of Education is aware that some members of the public are making misinformed claims about student and employee conduct involving the Del Norte High School softball program. The Board has not ignored this matter but is bound by privacy laws that do not allow us to make public statements regarding specific student or employee matters.”
On Dec. 14, about a half-dozen speakers discussed the investigation and allegations during the public comments portion of the meeting.
Byron Yafuso said there have been “serious allegations” against the superintendent that she abused her administrative power in relation to a conflict of interest involving her daughter.
The abuses alleged may or may not be true, he said, but either way district voters are entitled to reassurances from the board.
“The voters of Poway Unified School District need to know whether the board members feel the alleged abuses, if true, are acceptable to them,” he said. “I call on each individual member of the board to take action to publicly indicate to Poway Unified School District voters where each of you stand.”
“I further call on the board to publish the procedure and findings of the evaluation you were reported to have conducted into the superintendent after last month’s board meeting,” he said. “We district voters need enough information to decide for ourselves whether the evaluation was conducted in a manner designed to find the truth.”
Speaker Maggie Cascio said parents want to see administrators and leaders demonstrate honesty and integrity.
“What I want is for my children to see adults who model good behavior and kindness and respect,” Cascio said. “But what my kids have actually experienced, unfortunately, is bullying from other students that was never effectively addressed, threats and intimidation from a school administrator, and even heckling from parents at an opposing school after a sporting event.”
Cascio said she would like to see a district policy regarding employees who have students in the district.
“Put in place some guiderails to prevent situations where a conflict of interest could lead to unfair treatment of a student, and I believe this would also benefit the children of employees,” she said. “Let’s get the district back on track. Let’s really create world-class learners who are also principled members of our community because they’ve had great role models.”
A Del Norte High senior and softball player who asked that her name be withheld discussed the way comments made at a November school board meeting were handled.
“We hoped that you would listen to what we said and address the superintendent’s actions but this isn’t what happened,” the softball player said. “Instead, you publicly labeled what we had to say as misinformation and announced that while you wouldn’t be investigating the abuse of power on the part of the superintendent you would instead launch yet another investigation into our softball program.”
Judy Simeroth, another speaker, said the message from the school board is that the softball girls and their parents are liars, and Superintendent Phelps did nothing wrong and her daughter is a victim, Simeroth said.
“If this is the case, why did the school not put into immediate action the anti-bullying protocol prior to the softball banquet?” Simeroth said. “Why did the disciplinary actions against the girls on the team start after the softball banquet? I think the board, elected officials, should fire Superintendent Phelps.”
Also during the Dec. 14 meeting, trustees unanimously elected new officers to the board. Trustee Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff has replaced Darshana Patel as the president. Trustee Cindy Sytsma was elected the new board vice president and Trustee Ginger Couvrette was elected as the new board clerk.
Patel announced earlier this year that she is running for the state Assembly District 76 seat in 2024 instead of a third term on the PUSD board.
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