A Yuma-area teacher who said she was fired after protecting a student from bullies will keep her teaching credentials under a settlement with the State Board of Education.
Alyssa Plaza was terminated from her job at Somerton High School in the Yuma Union High School District in April 2025. The decision from the school board came after Plaza let a boy enter her office — which was connected to the girls' locker room — to avoid bullies.
Plaza worked as a cheer coach and physical education teacher. She said she was ultimately terminated for what the district described as letting a male into the girls' locker room. Eric Patten, a spokesperson with the district, declined to comment on the reason for Plaza's termination.
Board of Education finds claim 'inaccurate and incomplete'
Plaza was first issued emergency
teaching certifications beginning in the 2023-2024 school year. Emergency certifications are issued by the State Board of Education, and act as a temporary permit so someone can work in a district with a teacher shortage while working toward their full certification.
Plaza said she was concerned that the district would push the State Board of Education to suspend her teaching certification for years. But State Board documents show Plaza was ultimately issued a letter of censure for what was described as "unprofessional conduct" in August 2026. She also had to take a professional development course.
The case started when the father of a student contacted school staff in February 2025 saying a boy on the cheer team was let into the girls' locker room, according to a settlement agreement.
"Upon investigation, this information was found to be inaccurate and incomplete," the Board of Education documents said.
The boy was bullied for his sexual orientation, causing him to suffer from severe mental health issues, according to the settlement document. Plaza let him use a restroom attached to her office instead of the boys' bathroom and locker room where he was targeted, according to the document.
Plaza said in an interview with The Arizona Republic that she was concerned about the boy entering the boys' locker room and bathroom because students were getting beat up in the bathrooms. He also received death threats from his bullies, she said.
According to State Board of Education documents, the boy was not allowed to change in the girls' locker room — just the office bathroom connected to it — and was not allowed to enter when female students were changing.
Plaza was placed on administrative leave in February 2025 and was instructed not to contact any students, according to State Board documents. According to the settlement, she messaged the students on the cheer Instagram account and said she wanted to keep the students in the loop as to what was happening. Plaza said the district used that as another reason to terminate her.
"Obviously we were all investigated and some lies did come out from students and some students made it worse so today I had a meeting. The options I was given was to quit or get fired," Plaza wrote to the students, according to the board settlement.
But Plaza said she gave the Arizona Department of Education her phone during the investigation to prove that the user who contacted the kids was not her. Plaza said she does not know who sent the message.
Patten declined to give details on Plaza's termination, but clarified that the district was legally obligated to report unprofessional conduct to the state, which then conducts an investigation. The district also did not recommend Plaza have her credentials suspended as that is not part of the reporting process, Patten said. Plaza's lawyer, Gary Husk, said the district did make a recommendation to the state to have her credentials suspended.
"Superintendent (Tim) Brienza continues to fully support the decision of the YUHSD Governing Board to accept his recommendation of termination of Ms. Plaza in April 2025," Patten said in a Sept. 18 statement.
Fired teacher describes past year as 'pure torture'
Plaza said the last year and a half was "pure torture" as she gathered evidence that she would later present to the State Board of Education and the Attorney General's Office.
But she said she has no regrets. The boy had become increasingly quiet and withdrawn during the 2024-2025 school year, a departure from his usual bubbly personality.
He was the only male cheerleader on the team and Plaza said he already had complained to administrators about the bullying, but nothing was done apart from telling him to take alternate routes to class.
"All he really needed was an ear that was willing to listen and an adult who was willing to sit and say 'OK, I'm going to help you,'" Plaza said.
But while Plaza said she sometimes questions whether she did the right thing, she thinks that thought shouldn't even run through her head.
"The thought that should be running through my head is like, 'If I had an option to do it again, I would do it again,'" she said.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Teacher fired after helping student avoid bullies can keep credentials
