Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

California Superintendent Fired After Threatening Students For Not Clapping For Her Daughter

Screenshot of Marian Kim Phelps
NBC News

Poway Unified School District Superintendent Marian Kim Phelps has been fired after she allegedly threatened members of her daughter's high school softball team for not clapping loudly enough for her during an awards ceremony.

Board members of the Poway Unified School District in California unanimously voted to fire its Superintendent, Marian Kim Phelps, for allegedly harassing and bullying her students.

The accusations originated from an incident last May that became known as Clappergate that involved the Del Norte High School softball team.


The students who attended their softball awards banquet alleged Phelps threatened to deny them graduation privileges because they didn't applaud loudly enough for her daughter who played on the team.

The Del Norte students and their parents claimed Phelps bullied one of the players she believed was the ringleader in telling fellow softball players not to clap for the Superintendent's daughter at the banquet.

According to NBC 7, Phelps called and texted one of the students close to midnight without parental knowledge following the silent reception her daughter received at May's banquet.

She threatened to revoke graduation privileges if they didn't admit to orchestrating the withheld applause.

You can watch a news report here.

California superintendent fired after allegedly bullying studentsyoutu.be

Michael Roberts, who is a parent to one of the students, told the news outlet:

“Threatening kids not to be able to graduate and walk at their graduation ceremony."
"I think those responses are just inappropriate. The whole thing is inappropriate."




Del Norte varsity coach Tom Peronto said he notified the school board of Phelps' "abuse of power", which included threatening to get a junior player kicked off the team and banning them from participating in extracurricular activities.

Peronto's job security was threatened as well.

He said:

"Because I had exposed these abuses and emails to the board members, she then falsely accused me of verbally attacking a member of the board in the district parking lot, using this as justification to have me fired from coaching softball at Del Norte."

School board president Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff said the board voted to terminate Phelps' contract in a closed session following an investigation launched from November 15 to April 18.

Said O'Connor-Ratcliff:

"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.'




A separate lawsuit in connection to the case was filed in San Diego by a "Jane Doe."

The suit alleged that Phelps "constructed a narrative falsely suggesting" the anonymous student bullied her daughter and that Phelps "unilaterally" perceived an "intense rivalry" between her daughter and the other players on the team.

As punishment for challenging Phelps, the student was barred from extracurricular activities during her senior year, which included playing on the softball team, attending school dances, and field trips, participating in student clubs, activities, and attending graduation.


A group of players led by senior student Miranda Mosqueda attended a board meeting to discuss the Clappergate incident.

"I, along with my teammates, were at the softball banquet on May 30," Mosqueda told the school board.

"To be honest, it was the best banquet I've attended. Everyone was happy and cheering, and supporting one another, but little did we know, one of the parents thought that her daughter didn't get enough claps."
"She started an investigation, and five months later, we're all still dealing with this. She made life hell for 10 seniors, threatening to bar them from their own graduation if they didn't admit that they did something that they didn't do."

He continued:

"These seniors are our friends and didn't do anything wrong. Neither did the other student who this parent also threatened and even had investigated."
"This parent has a lot of power in our school district. She used her power and influence to bully our students and essentially break up our softball program at Del Norte."

Mosqueda added:

"This is my senior year at Del Norte. I was very excited to represent my school during my senior season and to play with all of my friends for the last time before we had to go to college, but now, many of us are afraid to play this year for fear of being harassed and intimidated."

He concluded by asking:

"Who is the real bully in this situation?"

Phelps maintains that she "never threatened any student."

She told NBC News of bullying accusations:

"I never would. I've never talked to any student about making threats about them not graduating."
"All those accusations are completely false and fabricated.”

More from Trending

Screenshots from AccuWeather's video footage
@AccuWeather/Twitter (X)

Missouri Road Buckles In Extreme Heat And Sends Car Flying Into The Air In Wild Viral Video

Footage was captured of a car being launched into the air while trying to drive down a buckled road in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

After a heat wave over the weekend, two roads in Cape Girardeau—Albert Blackwell and Siemers Drive—experienced extreme buckling, with the concrete cracking and lifting up into a triangular shape.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jeff Bezos
Paul Ellis - Pool/Getty Images

Jeff Bezos Gets Hit With Brutal Banner In Venice Ahead Of His Impending Wedding

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was called out by environmental activist group Greenpeace ahead of his wedding to journalist Lauren Sánchez in Venice when the organization unfurled a giant banner criticizing him for not paying his fair share in taxes.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro and regional governor Luca Zaia have defended Bezos’ lavish wedding celebrations, saying the event would provide a major economic boost to local businesses, including gondola operators and water taxi services. Zaia estimated the festivities could inject between 20 and 30 million euros ($23–$34 million) into the regional economy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Halsey
Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

Halsey Shows Off Medical Port In Candid Selfie Amid Battle With Lupus And Rare Blood Disorder

Over the weekend, singer Halsey shared a selfie on Instagram that showed a medical port on their chest, along with a carousel of other pictures from their For My Last Trick tour.

Produced by Live Nation, the 32-city tour kicked off on May 10 in California and will include stops across the U.S. and Canada.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
Fox News

Trump Drops F-Bomb In Angry Rant After Israel And Iran Violate 'Ceasefire'—And It's Total Projection

President Donald Trump swore at Israel and Iran in an angry rant after the two countries violated a so-called ceasefire agreement he'd announced earlier in a post on Truth Social.

Israel and Iran have exchanged fire since Israel attacked Iran nearly two weeks ago in a bid to kneecap the country's nuclear capabilities. Trump himself later authorized a series of intense U.S. air and submarine strikes targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Fantastic Four: First Steps;' David Corenswet as 'Superman'
Disney/Marvel Studios; Warner Bros. Pictures

Theater Called Out For Covering 'Superman' Poster With 'Fantastic Four' Display—But David Corenswet's Reaction Is Pure Class

If you're a comic book movie fan, you're facing a summer that's a downright embarrassment of riches: Both The Fantastic Four: First Steps and a Superman reboot are headed your way back-to-back, shaping up for one heck of a summer movie season.

But some fans of the Superman franchise are a bit tetchy about the way the movie seems to be being overshadowed by The Fantastic Four, at least at one movie theater out there.

Keep ReadingShow less