A school district superintendent in the San Diego area was placed on administrative leave this week, nearly a year after allegations surfaced that he had threatened to block students from graduation ceremonies when he felt they didn’t praise his daughter enough at a banquet.
During a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, the board overseeing the Poway Unified School District, which includes approximately 35,000 students, unanimously voted to move forward with administrative leave for Dr. Phillips.
In a statement released by President Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff, the board said it had “lost all confidence and trust in Dr. Phillips’ ability to continue serving as superintendent.” The vote followed an investigation into Phillips’ leadership initiated by the board on November 15 and concluded on April 18.
The board stated that “former unknown witnesses emerged during the investigation who provided credible testimony that Dr. Phillips’ actions were inconsistent with the board’s, district staff, and public statements.” The board said it would not provide further comment or additional information regarding the investigation because minors were involved.
The school district did not respond to requests for further comment this week. A phone call to Dr. Phillips’ listed number went unanswered.
Athletes, coaches, and parents alleged that Phillips bullied and harassed members of the girls’ varsity softball team at North High School in San Diego and at Poway Unified camps after a banquet on May 30, 2023. They claimed that his daughter, who was named team MVP that evening, did not receive enough applause from her teammates, which Phillips deemed appropriate.
Allegations from concerned parents, a player, and two softball coaches were raised at a school board meeting on November 9, accusing Phillips of wrongdoing. The board subsequently launched its investigation.
Senior shortstop Miranda Maseda was notably absent from Tuesday’s game as she had delivered an outstanding performance early in the banquet, in which she participated.
Maseda claimed that the superintendent’s oversight investigation “made life hell for 10 seniors, threatened to stop their graduation ceremonies unless they stopped their own celebrations.” She noted that it was never mentioned that the seniors did not clap “enough” for any player.
At this time, North’s softball coach Tom Perronto labeled the investigation initiated by Phillips as “incorrect” and questioned how it could be justified or interpreted fairly.
“As coaches presenting awards, we had the best view of the events of the evening,” they said in a November 9 meeting. “To date, not a single coach has been consulted about the events of the evening.”
An unnamed minor student filed a lawsuit against Phillips, the high school, the school district, and the board in the San Diego County Superior Court, alleging deliberate infliction of emotional distress, negligence in properly training district employees, and violation of her rights in the initial disciplinary actions.
The student alleged that she and Phillips’ daughter were competing for the same position on the softball team. Phillips and his daughter felt slighted when they believed the members of the softball team showed more enthusiasm for other players over his daughter, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Phillips attempted to enforce this belief by stopping his daughter’s applause that evening. The banquet ended around 9 p.m., and Phillips texted a player shortly after and spoke with her for over half an hour, attempting to reinforce his viewpoint, according to the lawsuit.
In the heat of the season, according to legal documents, Phillips monitored private social media accounts of members of the girls’ softball team, for which he was also a plaintiff, ultimately causing awkwardness among the athletes.
The lawsuit stated that the final outcome of Phillips’ investigation was to provide the plaintiff with an opportunity to acknowledge that she had wronged Phillips’ daughter; otherwise, she would be banned from the high school softball team for her senior year.
Phillips acted on this threat in a written communication dated August 15 from the North’s principal, stating that due to her refusal to sign other forms of “correction,” she was being placed on indefinite suspension from summer workouts, which she would accept by “staying out of trouble,” refraining from bullying, threatening, harassing, or derogatory statements.
