The superintendent of a California public school system was fired from her job after being accused of harassing several students because they reportedly didn’t applaud enough for her daughter during a school softball team banquet.
The Poway Unified School District voted to oust Marian Kim Phelps last week following a months-long investigation into allegations that she bullied and threatened multiple girls at one San Diego high school.
Those students were teammates of Phelps’ daughter, Jessica, on the Del Norte High School softball team. The harassment allegedly started after a banquet on May 30, 2023, to celebrate and close out the team’s season.
Jessica Phelps, the pitcher on the team, was awarded team MVP at the event. Yet, according to a lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court, her mother was displeased by what she judged as scant and meager applause when her daughter’s name was called.
Later that evening, Phelps texted one of her daughter’s teammates, asking if she and the other players plotted to clap half-heartedly for her daughter compared to other players awarded that night. The player responded no, but Phelps accused her and other teammates of “trying to cover up for their poor behavior.”
“But it is what it is and we will follow up on our end from an administration standpoint,” Phelps texted the student.
What began from that point on was a lengthy bullying campaign executed by Phelps. She threatened to bar 10 incoming high school seniors from walking in their graduation ceremony if they didn’t own up to the applause conspiracy.
The complaint also states that she specifically targeted one softball player she deemed as her daughter’s rival. Phelps allegedly said she would use her power to prevent that player from becoming co-captain of the team the following year. She also had backup plans, including transferring her to another school or making sure she had a “lonely” year at school.
Phelps deceived district officials and Del Norte school administrators into falsely investigating that teammate after alleging she bullied her daughter. As a result, that student was banned from all extracurricular activities in her senior year, including softball.
Her family filed a lawsuit afterward. Several players, parents, and two softball coaches also brought their concerns to the district about Phelps in November 2023.
The day the district launched an independent investigation into Phelps, she went on local television news to denounce all the allegations against her.
In a separate statement to NBC San Diego, Phelps reiterated that she “never threatened any student.”
“I never would. I’ve never talked to any student about making threats about them not graduating,” she said in the statement. “All those accusations are completely false and fabricated.”
The district hired a third-party law firm that interviewed 41 witnesses and reviewed documents, which found “unknown evidence from witnesses with direct first-hand knowledge, that contradicted Dr. Phelps’ statements and assertions to the Board, District staff, and the public.”
In a statement on Phelps’ firing, the district said it “has lost all confidence and trust in Dr. Phelps’ ability to continue to serve as superintendent.”
The student Phelps regarded as her daughter’s rival was able to play softball again after the school settled with her family, according to The Washington Post. Her lawyer said she’s already secured a softball scholarship to a Division I school she’ll attend upon graduation.
Phelps was hired in 2017, after four years as superintendent of the Westminster School District. Transparent California puts her base salary as of 2020 at $312,084, with additional benefits her total salary hits $385,956.
Word of Phelps’ actions spread throughout social media. One popular YouTube Channel Nate the Lawyer shared a local network coverage of the news. The post garnered over 4,000 comments.
One commentor wrote,
“1) Ruined her own career
2) Ruined her daughter’s reputation
3) Ruined a coach’s career
4) Ruined a bunch of seniors’ final H.S. sports season
5) Potentially ruined scholarship opportunities by gutting her own school’s softball team
That’s…quite a record.”
“These Karens are getting out of control.” joked another.
Others were perplexed by Phelps’ decision to text students directly. “Why on EARTH is any teacher or administrator calling or texting a STUDENT directly for ANY reason??”
