By admin 
PEORIA, AZ (AZFamily) — Peoria police have reversed their earlier position on the high-profile teacher-student sex scandal involving two former Centennial High School teachers, confirming this week that detectives are now investigating the mandatory reporting aspect of the case.
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For months, the department maintained there was “no indication that school officials failed to meet their obligations as mandatory reporters.” Peoria Unified School District officials repeatedly cited that statement, while public pressure mounted over allegations that district leaders knew about potential wrongdoing and failed to report it to law enforcement.
This week, police issued a new statement, saying detectives are “conducting a complex and thorough investigation into multiple aspects stemming from this incident, including mandatory reporting.”
Two teachers & one student
Former teachers Haley Beck and Angela Burlaka are accused of grooming or sending sexually explicit videos to the same student. The investigation was opened last July. No criminal charges have been filed against either woman as of this report.
“When credible concerns arise, those in positions of authority are required to act immediately. What has come to light at one of our high schools raises serious concerns about whether that duty was upheld,” Heather Rooks said in April when she was still PUSD’s Governing Board president. In May, she was stripped of her position, but she remains on the board.
Timeline: How the Centennial High teacher investigation grew into district crisis
Advocate and lawmaker cite need for stricter rules
Child safety advocate Katey McPherson, who has followed the case closely, said the shift in the department’s position was not unexpected.
“I don’t think it’s been a switcheroo or anything like that,” McPherson said. “I think as the story unfolds, when you have two educators and multiple victims involved, I think it’s pretty natural that they’re looking into that.”
McPherson worked alongside Republican state Sen. Carine Werner to pass legislation over the past two years strengthening mandatory reporting laws.
“In the past, it was kind of like, well, I told my boss and then my boss reported, and that was able to fly,” McPherson said. “This new law and the one right before it that we passed last year really tightens that. Like, no, you are the responsible party. You have to make the call.”
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“We have seen in the past where things have happened, it’s been reported to administrators or principals, and then it kind of has gotten swept under the rug a little bit, and they give that teacher or employee the opportunity to resign and move on to a different school,” Werner said.
New state law takes effect in September
Governor Katie Hobbs signed into law in June. Werner said the legislation was necessary because some schools were circumventing the law passed the prior year. Among the changes, school resource officers can no longer investigate these offenses.
Werner said the Beck and Burlaka investigations did not directly prompt the law changes, but called the case an example of why stricter regulations are needed.
“This was an open secret, and that is a failure in the adults that they did not report this,” Werner said.
The new law officially takes effect in September.
To date, no charges related to mandatory reporting have been submitted to prosecutors in this case. Peoria police have not said whether recent search warrants executed at the district office were related to mandatory reporting, other possible victims or another aspect of the investigation.
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