A school superintendent lost her job over claims that she "bullied" and "harassed" students because they didn't clap loudly enough for her daughter.
Last November, players of the Del Norte High School softball team and their parents alleged that superintendent Dr. Marian Kim Phelps hounded one of the players.
The 93-page lawsuit - which was filed that same month - claims that Phelps accused a senior varsity member, who was identified only as Jane Doe, of not applauding loud enough for her daughter during a softball ceremony in May 2023, as reported by KNSD.
The complaint states that Phelps began her “investigation” the night of the banquet by interrogating the student without permission via text messages and phone calls. During the call, she allegedly used "disparaging" and "derogatory" language.
She also allegedly threatened all the other athletes, saying that she would take away their graduation privileges if they didn’t confess to "orchestrating a conspiracy to not clap for J.P. at the softball banquet," per the suit.
In a statement to the publication, the superintendent denied any wrongdoing and said she "never threatened any student," adding: "I've never talked to any student about making threats about them not graduating. All those accusations are completely false and fabricated.”
Her daughter also shared a written statement, contending that the "table full of senior softball players and [the] Plaintiff would cheer in a loud and overly exaggerated way for certain players and then not at all for me".
She accused her teammates of feeling "jealousy" and "hate" towards her, as cited by PEOPLE.
During a school board meeting, varsity coach Tom Peronto said that he informed the Poway Unified School District board about the situation.
He argued that Phelps also tried to get a junior player kicked off the team and excluded from extracurricular activities.
In addition to this, the coach alleged that she also threatened his job as well, adding: “Because I had exposed these abuses and emails to the board members, she then falsely accused me of verbally attacking a member of the board in the district parking lot, using this as justification to have me fired from coaching at softball at Del Norte," per KNSD.
A group of players and former players, represented by Miranda Mosqueda, who is a senior this year, were also present at the meeting.
They shared their version of events: "She started an investigation, and five months later, we're all still dealing with this. She made life hell for 10 seniors, threatening to bar them from their own graduation if they didn't admit that they did something that they didn't do," per KNSD.
"These seniors are our friends and didn't do anything wrong. Neither did the other student who this parent also threatened and even had investigated," they continued. "This parent has a lot of power in our school district."
"She used her power and influence to bully our students and essentially break up our softball program at Del Norte," they added.
According to PEOPLE, the Poway Unified School District board voted on April 30 to terminate Phelps "effective immediately" following an independent investigation into claims.
Board president Michelle O'Connor-Ratcliff said in a statement: “The investigation brought to light previously unknown evidence from witnesses with direct first-hand knowledge, that contradicted Dr. Phelps’ statements and assertions to the board, district staff, and the public."
“Based on her conduct, as revealed to the board through the investigation, the board has lost all confidence and trust in Dr. Phelps’ ability to continue to serve as superintendent, as well as in her ability to continue to work collaboratively with the board as part of Poway Unified’s governance team," O'Connor-Ratcliff added.
