Peoria superintendent responds to alleged teacher misconduct scandal

PEORIA, AZ (AZFamily) — The superintendent of a West Valley school district is responding to recent allegations of a teacher misconduct scandal that has been at the center of local and national media coverage.

Dr. K.C. Somers, Superintendent of Peoria Unified School District, released a letter to parents responding to allegations that two former Centennial High School teachers, Haley Beck and Angela Burlaka, had sexual encounters with the same underage student.

According to the Peoria police report, the case came to light after the victim’s grandmother found an explicit video of Burlaka on her grandson’s phone. Burlaka is accused of recording videos of herself naked in which she said the student’s name.

Beck started providing “quid pro quo” benefits for the relationship, officials said. During the summer, the district’s investigative report said Beck exchanged more than 4,000 texts with the student in which they discussed oral sex, meeting up to have sex, drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana and recording sexual acts and showing them to other students.

Somers said in the letter that the Peoria Police Department investigated the allegations and found that the initial information at the time “did not meet the legal threshold for reasonable suspicion of abuse.” However, when more information came to light, the investigation was relaunched and Peoria police submitted their findings to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. The cases are currently under review by MCAO.

Haley Beck, left, is accused of pandering and Angela Burlaka, right, is accused of furnishing obscene material to minors.(Arizona’s Family)

Burlaka worked at the school for 25 years, and Beck was hired in 2020. Burlaka voluntarily surrendered her Arizona teaching certificate. Beck did not, and the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board unanimously voted to fire her.

Beck’s certificate remains under investigation and is pending before the State Board of Education, according to Dr. Somers.

The superintendent shared support for Centennial principal Scott Hollabaugh, stating that he “has the full support of the Peoria Unified School District’s administration.”

In response to the allegations, Dr. Somers said the district is reinforcing protocols about how staff respond to student safety, including any information that is passed through students, social media or the community.

“The Coyote community is built by the families, students, and staff who show up for one another year after year. What has happened does not change that, and it does not define the people who walk into that building every day to do right by your children,” a portion of Dr. Somers’ statement reads.

“I am grateful for the trust you place in our schools, and I am committed, as is every member of the district team, to maintaining a safe, supportive, and excellent learning environment for every student,” he added.

Anyone with information about the case or concerns about student safety should contact the Peoria Police Department or the district office at 623-486-6000.

Dave Baker and Micaela Marshall contributed to this report.

Read Dr. Somers’ full letter below:

April 27, 2026

Dear Centennial Families,

I am writing to you directly because you deserve a clear message from your superintendent, in my own words, about the matter that has been the subject of recent media coverage and online conversation.

Student safety is the foundation of everything we do at Peoria Unified. 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. With that as the starting point, here is what is established and what is happening now.

The Facts

The Peoria Police Department investigated this matter and, on April 2, 2026, communicated in writing that there is no indication district officials failed to meet their obligations as mandatory reporters under Arizona law. Their conclusion was that the information available at the time concerns were initially raised did not meet the legal threshold for reasonable suspicion of abuse. When information later developed that met that threshold, law enforcement was notified and the investigation proceeded. The Police Department has submitted its findings to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review.

The district’s internal review of how these concerns were handled administratively reached the same conclusion regarding the legal reporting standard. Where that review identified administrative concerns separate from the mandatory reporting question, those have been addressed through appropriate personnel action.

Through the District’s Title IX process, Ms. Haley Beck was found responsible for violating Governing Board Policy on sexual harassment, and termination was recommended. On March 26, 2026, the Governing Board adopted a Statement of Charges to terminate her employment. The Arizona Department of Education accepted Ms. Angela Burlaka’s voluntary surrender of her teaching certification on January 26, 2026, and was terminated by Peoria Unified effective the same day. Both matters were submitted to the Arizona Department of Education’s Investigative Unit. Ms. Beck’s certificate remains under investigation and pending before the State Board of Education.

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. I understand that. These are the systems that exist to make sure outcomes are lawful and durable, and we have used every one of them.

Information Circulating Online

There is a great deal being said in public spaces right now, some of it accurate, some of it not. I am not going to spend this letter responding to every claim. What I will say is this: the district has acted, is acting, and will continue to act on the basis of facts, law and the responsibilities entrusted to us by this community. There are limits on what we can share publicly while criminal review and state certification processes are pending, and those limits exist to protect the integrity of the very processes that families rightly want to see completed. We will continue to share what we can, when we can.

How to Report a Concern

If you, your child, or someone you know has information relevant to this matter or any concern about student safety, please act on it.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 911.

The Arizona Department of Child Safety hotline is 1-888-767-2445, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Information about reporting is available at https://dcs.az.gov/report-child-abuse.

You may also contact the Peoria Police Department, your school administration directly, or the district office at 623-486-6000, and the information will be routed to the people responsible for handling it.

Moving Forward

Centennial High School, under the continued leadership of Principal Scott Hollabaugh, remains focused on its students and its mission – and he has the full support of the Peoria Unified School District’s administration. Teachers are teaching. Coaches are coaching. Counselors are supporting kids. The vast majority of what happens at Centennial every day is the extraordinary, important work of educating young people, and that work has not stopped.

Across the district, we are reinforcing protocols for how staff respond to concerns about student safety, including any information that reaches them through students, social media, or community report. 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.

The Coyote community is built by the families, students, and staff who show up for one another year after year. What has happened does not change that, and it does not define the people who walk into that building every day to do right by your children. I am grateful for the trust you place in our schools, and I am committed, as is every member of the district team, to maintaining a safe, supportive, and excellent learning environment for every student.

Thank you for your continued partnership.