Morning Report: Softball Scandal Takes Down Poway Schools Boss

Marian Kim Phelps is out as Superintendent of the Poway Unified School District. 

The embattled district leader has been under fire since November, when students and parents alleged she had harassed members of the Del Norte High School softball team on which her daughter plays. The harassment allegedly stemmed from a May incident at a banquet for the softball team during which some members did not clap for Phelps’ daughter. 

In February, Poway Unified placed her on administrative leave amid an investigation into the alleged harassment. That investigation concluded in mid-April, after interviews with 41 witnesses and a thorough document review.

She’s out: After meeting in closed session for nearly three hours on Tuesday, Poway’s Board of Education announced it had unanimously voted to terminate Phelps, effective immediately. In a statement, Board President Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff wrote the board had come to the decision based on evidence the investigation had uncovered “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,” the statement read.

Greg Mizel, who has served as interim superintendent since Phelps was placed on leave, will continue in that role.

Still at play: Phelps’ alleged behavior also spawned a lawsuit from one member of the team, who has remained anonymous because they are a minor. In the lawsuit, the player claimed she had been the victim of an “illegitimate and biased” investigation that ultimately kept her from playing on the softball team her senior year.

In a statement, the family of the student wrote that the board took a significant step with the decision to oust Phelps. 

“We are relieved that they are starting to take responsibility for their actions,” the statement read.

“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.”

The lawsuit is still ongoing.

Districts Give Raises While Layoff Notices Go Out

San Diego Unified’s eye-popping budget deficits have made headlines, but the district’s not alone in facing a significant budget crunch. All 10 of San Diego County’s largest school districts are facing deficits in coming years, according to inewsource. 

Those deficits are due to a familiar mixture of factors – namely long-term enrollment decline and the expiration of Covid recovery dollars. Districts are turning to staff reductions to close the gap. Layoff numbers won’t be finalized until May, but thus far districts have issued 566 layoff notices. San Diego Unified, by far the largest district in the county, issued 250 of those.

Don’t mean layoffs necessarily: Often districts rescind those notices or rehire employees after the state Legislature finalizes its budget in June. But the state has its own deficit. 

Gotta take care of the bosses: Even as districts have grappled with funding shortfalls, they haven’t necessarily spent like they are. Three districts – Sweetwater, Grossmont and Cajon Valley – voted to increase the pay of board members even as they faced deficits in the millions of dollars. Those districts projected deficits were $77 million, $21.6 million and $9 million, respectively.

San Diego Unified similarly reached a deal to grant big raises to its teachers just last year – before then laying some of them off because of the deficit this year. When it was inked, district officials estimated the deal would cost the district over half a billion dollars over its lifetime. 

Fire on Oceanside Pier May Prompt Local Emergency

Oceanside city leaders will consider declaring a local emergency at a special City Council meeting Wednesday because of a fire that erupted last week on Oceanside’s iconic pier.

On April 25, a fire engulfed a portion of the historic Oceanside pier. It took multiple agencies and a few days to extinguish the blaze, which was fully put out by Monday morning. Crews were able to save roughly 95 percent of the 1,950-foot-long wooden structure, NBC 7 reported. So far, arson has been ruled out.

Declaring an emergency will allow the city to more quickly receive federal and state reimbursement for the pier.

The beach and Strand from Surfrider to Tyson Street has since reopened, with the exception of a 500-yard zone directly around the pier, according to Oceanside officials.

Song of the Week

Language is a living, breathing thing. A word’s meaning can change, a word can go extinct or even be transmogrified in the linguistic furnace of the internet. Music is the same way. Genres, and their descriptors, change from one generation to the next as music’s porous borders stretch and recede. Often, as is the case with goth, those descriptors become relegated to the world of fashion rather than music. This is the part where I do an imitation of an old man shaking his fist at a cloud – I miss old goth music.  

Vice Algae, “Covered in Grief (TSOGL)”: Vice Algae feels like old school goth music. It’s sparse, heavy and drenched in a deliciously thick fog of reverb (likely at least partly because these tracks are demos.) On “Covered In Grief,” there’s a bit of frontiersy instrumentation – like a song from a classic Western movie recorded in a basement. That all dissolves near the end of the track, as the lead singer’s Ian Curtis-esque yips egg on a chaotic crescendo. 

Like what you hear? Check out Vice Algae at Til Two on Friday, May 10. 

Do you have a “Song of the Week” suggestion? Shoot us an email and a sentence or two about why you’ve been bumping this song lately. Friendly reminder: all songs should be by local artists! 

In Other News

• County supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to initiate talks to buy a Vista property that could become a county behavioral health campus. 
• On Tuesday, hundreds of San Diego State University students took part in a walkout organized by Students for Justice in Palestine. The protest is meant to show solidarity for Palestinians and urge the university to divest from weapons manufacturers, according to social media posts from the organization.
• Imperial Valley’s only post office burned down in 2022. Two years later, it still hasn’t been rebuilt. Now, three California lawmakers are lobbying the U.S. Postmaster General to change that. (KPBS)
• Scott Wahl, Mayor Todd Gloria’s pick as San Diego’s new chief of police, passed his first hurdle last night when a City Council special committee voted approve his appointment. That vote was largely a technicality, though, as the council will have to vote on his nomination again at a regular board meeting before he officially gets the job. (NBC 7)
• Nora Vargas, the chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, announced she’s developed nodules on her vocal cords and will rest her voice for the next two weeks. She attended Tuesday’s board meeting and had the county clerk read her statements. (KPBS)

The Morning Report was written by Jakob McWhinney and edited by Scott Lewis.