POWAYPOWAY — The Poway Unified School board voted unanimously Tuesday to fire Superintendent Marian Kim Phelps, effectively immediately.
The action follows an investigation into Del Norte High School’s softball program and accusations that Phelps harassed its players after an end-of-season awards banquet last May. The probe included 41 witnesses and the review of a number of documents, officials said.
“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,” said board president Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff in a statement.
“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 said.
The probe by law firm Dannis Woliver Kelley was to include the conduct of district staff, students, s and Phelps, who was placed on istrative leave in February, trustees have said.
During the past year, Poway Unified students, parents and staff have spoken at school board meetings, accusing Phelps of having abused her power by pursuing a campaign of punishment and harassment against Del Norte High softball players they said she believed hadn’t clapped loudly enough for her daughter at the banquet.
They alleged she tried to get team to it that they had conspired not to applaud Jessica. For example, they have accused her of texting and calling another player late on the night of the banquet.
In late November, a high school senior softball player sued the district and its leaders over those claims.
Phelps has denied the allegations and said her daughter, Jessica Phelps, a pitcher on the team, was being bullied by another Del Norte student leading up to and after the event.
In response, trustees launched the investigation on Dec. 14 “in consideration of the concerns raised in the community and to ensure all students are safe and ed at school.”
On Tuesday the family of the plaintiff, referred to as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, praised Phelps’ firing as “a move in the right direction.”
“Today, the PUSD School Board took a significant step by acknowledging their wrong doing and implementing measures we asked them to do nearly a year ago,” Doe’s family said in a statement. “While this decision cannot undo the damage, unjust treatment and hardships our daughter endured during her senior year, including the unwarranted removal of all her school-related privileges, it is a move in the right direction.”
Doe’s attorney, Justin Reden, said nothing significant has changed about Doe’s lawsuit and that he will continue to “seek full compensation and justice for my client.”
Reden said he thinks the fact that the district’s initial, internal investigation indicated no serious wrongdoing by Phelps — to be contradicted later by an external investigation that did find wrongdoing — signals a failure on the district’s part.
“The fact that they needed that investigation exposes serious flaws in their internal oversight capabilities, especially when it involves high-ranking officials,” Reden said.
He also criticized the school board for keeping details of the final investigation’s findings from the public.
“They owe it to the public,” Reden said. “They’re kind of saying, ‘Hey, there’s other stuff, just trust us,’ but they won’t show us or tell us.”
At a Nov. 15 school board meeting, then-President Darshana Patel said in a statement that the board had met three times about the issue and reviewed hundreds of pages of witness statements and ing documents related to the Del Norte istration’s investigation of and issues regarding the softball program. She said the board “took action within the purview of our authority regarding employee conduct.” She did not elaborate.
Patel said the board “is aware that some of the public are making misinformed claims about student and employee conduct involving the Del Norte High School softball program.”
Phelps said after that meeting, which was called to discuss launching an investigation, that a probe was the best way to figure out how to move forward.
“I do think there is a lot of misinformation out there,” Phelps said. “I never threatened any student. I never would have done that. I never made any statement about not graduating. All of those allegations are completely false.”
Rachelle Babler, a parent of two Poway Unified students who attended Tuesday’s meeting, said after the announcement that Phelps should have been fired last summer when students and parents first came to the board.
“It’s disheartening that the families and students had to go through months and months of mental duress when there was evidence that the superintendent abused her powers,” said Babler, co-founder of the group PUSD Community Watch.
Alan Stockton, a former Del Norte High junior varsity softball head coach, said in a phone interview after the meeting that the announcement was good news.
“They finally got around to coming to the obvious solution to the problem,” Stockton said. “I’m glad the kids got justice for their cause, because they were right and they stood up to her (Phelps).”
Stockton, who spoke at several school board meetings, said he doesn’t believe the board would have taken action if the students, parents and community hadn’t come forward.
He said the board’s prior statement that it had received “misinformed claims” from the community was contradicted by O’Connor-Ratcliff’s statement about why Phelps was fired.
“The superintendent should have been terminated, but the board covered it up,” said Stockton, who coached the softball team for 13 years but said he was not asked to return this season.
Because the investigation involves student and personnel issues, in accordance with state and federal law, no additional details will be provided at this time, O’Connor-Ratcliff said Tuesday.
She said interim Superintendent Greg Mizel will continue in his role during the period of transition.
Phelps has led the 36,000-student district since April 2017.
