Democracy Dies in Darkness

Superintendent fired after her daughter’s softball rival alleged retaliation

The student alleged in a lawsuit that the superintendent said the teen would be punished for not clapping enough for her daughter.

By
May 9, 2024 at 6:06 a.m. EDT
“I’ve never threatened any student. I never would. I’ve never talked to any student about making threats about them not graduating. All of those accusations are completely false and fabricated," Marian Kim Phelps told a TV station in November. (KFMB)
5 min

Players on the Del Norte High School girls’ softball team clapped last year when their pitcher was named MVP during an end-of-year banquet. But their “resounding support” wasn’t enough for her mother — the California school district’s top official, a lawsuit states.

Later that night, Poway Unified School District Superintendent Marian Kim Phelps texted one of her daughter’s teammates, asking if she and other players had conspired to give her daughter lackluster applause compared to others who had won awards, according to a lawsuit filed Nov. 27, in San Diego Superior Court. When the player said no, Phelps allegedly suggested they were “trying to cover up their poor behavior” and threatened school discipline.