Police say the women, both once assigned to Centennial High School, are tied to allegations involving one teenage boy as prosecutors seek more investigation.
PEORIA, AZ — Two former Centennial High School teachers in Peoria are accused of sexual misconduct involving the same teenage boy, a case that police say began with grooming allegations and now includes claims of explicit messages, gifts, alcohol, drugs and possible contact with other students.
The case matters now because it has moved beyond school discipline and into a still-open criminal review. Peoria police have sent proposed charges to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office against Haley Beck and Angela Burlaka, but prosecutors asked investigators for more work before deciding whether to file. One teacher has already lost her job and the other has surrendered her teaching certificates, leaving families and district leaders facing new questions about supervision, reporting and whether more students were affected.
Police and school officials say the allegations surfaced in August 2025, when both women were placed on administrative leave as investigators examined separate but related claims tied to the same student. Beck, 27, had been hired by the Peoria Unified School District in 2020. Burlaka had worked at Centennial High School for 25 years. Authorities say the boy was a student at Centennial, a campus at 14388 N. 79th Ave. that serves more than 2,000 students in northwest Peoria. According to the district’s statement of charges, Beck’s conduct began before the student turned 18 in December 2024. Detectives later concluded the alleged grooming and sexual harassment stretched through his sophomore and junior years, when Beck taught him psychology and sociology. By late March, the Peoria Unified governing board had voted unanimously to fire Beck. During the March 26 meeting, one parent told the board the case had shaken trust in the district and said families expect schools to protect students during the long hours children spend on campus.
The most detailed accusations center on Beck. District records and police findings say she gave the student special treatment in class, completed schoolwork for him and improperly changed grades and attendance. Investigators also say she gave him access to her car, bought him food, gifts, alcohol and drugs, and sent him more than $600. In one message described by investigators, Beck called herself his “sugar momma” and said the arrangement felt like prostitution. Authorities say the pair exchanged more than 4,000 text messages over roughly six weeks, many involving sexual or illegal activity. Police submitted a pandering allegation against Beck to county prosecutors. Burlaka, 47, is accused of furnishing obscene material to a minor. Public reporting on the case says she was suspected of sending explicit material to the same boy and later surrendered her Arizona teaching certificates. No arrests had been announced by Thursday, and police said the investigation remained active. Authorities have not publicly detailed every alleged encounter, and prosecutors have not yet said whether felony charges will be filed.
The case has drawn attention in part because investigators and outside specialists describe it as highly unusual. Jessica Nicely, a child abuse prevention specialist interviewed by Arizona’s Family, said she had not seen another case in three decades involving two adult women accused of exploiting the same male victim. She said the reaction can be different when the alleged victim is a boy, even though the power imbalance remains the same. Dr. Brecken Blades, a forensic psychologist also interviewed by the station, said adults who target children often use distorted thinking to justify conduct that is actually about control and manipulation. The district’s own findings reflect that concern. Records say Beck’s alleged contact with the student was not limited to flirtation, but grew into an escalating pattern of favors, private communication and boundary violations. The student’s age has also been a key detail in the public discussion. While some of the documented communications happened after he turned 18, district records say the grooming began earlier, when he was still a minor and still under the authority of school employees.
The procedural track is now split between the school system and the criminal justice system. Burlaka is no longer employed by the district and has voluntarily given up her teaching certificates. Beck’s case moved more slowly. The school board adopted a statement of charges and voted on March 26 to terminate her employment. Under district procedure, she was given until April 8 to request a hearing to challenge that action. As of April 1, Arizona’s Family reported she had not done so. On the criminal side, Peoria police said they sent their case to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, which returned it for additional investigation rather than approving immediate charges. That means detectives may still be gathering records, witness interviews or digital evidence before prosecutors make a final decision. Police have also said they believe there could be more victims, a statement that raises the possibility of more interviews and possibly more counts if other students come forward. For now, the county attorney’s office has not announced a charging date, court hearing or grand jury presentation.
The fallout has spread beyond police files and board packets into the wider Peoria community. Centennial High School posted a 94.8% graduation rate for the class of 2024, and the campus sits in a city of more than 207,000 residents that has grown quickly in recent years. Families who send children to the school have used public meetings to press district leaders on accountability and student safety. The case has also pulled in a level of attention unusual for a local school investigation because Beck is the sister of social media personality Noah Beck, a detail picked up in national celebrity coverage as the district prepared to finalize her dismissal. Still, the local story remains rooted in one campus, one student and a set of allegations that school and police officials say were serious enough to end two teaching careers. The unanswered questions are now the most important ones: whether prosecutors will bring charges, whether investigators can substantiate claims involving additional students and whether any further district records will show who inside the system knew of concerns before the case became public.
As of Thursday, both women were former teachers, no criminal charges had been filed publicly, and the Peoria police investigation was still open. The next clear milestone is April 8, the deadline for Beck to seek a district hearing, while prosecutors decide whether the case returns to them for formal charging.
Author note: Last updated April 2, 2026.