SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – During last year’s final school board meeting, former coach Dawn Caskey alleged that cheer coach Izzy Preston had been found at fault for incidents of intimidation and retaliation. Most notably, Caskey said that Preston had verbally threatened the cheer team and involved her daughter in the formal complaint that she had filed. The Tribune spoke with several sources and reviewed provided information in order to clarify what was substantiated during the district’s investigation.
Izzy Preston told the Tribune that she has been coaching for four years. Two years ago, the cheer team at South Tahoe High School formed a junior varsity team. Dawn Caskey became the junior varsity coach in June 2025 and coached until October 28th, when Principal Justin Zunino informed her that they had “made the decision to go in a different direction moving forward.”
Caskey, Victoria Hemenes and an anonymous parent filed formal complaints about Preston as a coach in September and October of last year, which alleged that Preston had threatened to kill the cheerleaders if they weren’t able to perform well, that she had berated cheerleaders (specifically the JV team) with crass language, failed to communicate with parents and Coach Caskey regarding practices or performances, and did not look after the safety of the cheerleaders.
Several injuries such as a popped shoulder, rolled ankle, exacerbated knee injury, neck injury and concussion occurred during the season. Hemenes told the Tribune that parents were not notified when their child was injured, which an anonymous parent who spoke to the Tribune agreed with. She said Preston did not contact her or direct her to the sports medicine center after her child was injured.
That anonymous parent also alleged that Preston pressured her daughter to perform after her injury and again after her daughter was sick and missed several days of school.
Anonymous parents who had not filed formal complaints told the Tribune that they were not consistently informed about practices or performances, that fliers were dropped during practices, that Preston did not take their children’s health or injuries seriously, and that there was favoritism or unfair treatment, especially for newer cheerleaders.
Caskey told the Tribune that Preston had not considered the judges’ scores for who made the varsity team during team tryouts. The JV team was also told they could not compete together with varsity because there was no space for JV during away games. Hemenes said that parents offered to take children to games on their own, to minimal response.
Both Caskey and other parents also believed they were retaliated against and that their complaints were not kept private. The anonymous parent said her daughter was moved to the back of performances after she filed a complaint, and Caskey said Preston confronted her about a meeting that was supposed to be private between her, Zunino and athletic director Kevin Hennessee. Caskey has maintained that her removal from the JV coaching position was in response to her filing official complaints.
The Tribune reached out to Preston for comments on the allegations, and she provided no comment on any incidents.
Cheerleaders on the varsity team provided comments on their experiences on the team. One said, “Coach Izzy Preston has always prioritized the safety and well-being of our team. She consistently ensured athletes were fully healthy before returning to practice… when I suffered an injury in October, Coach Preston made sure I was completely ready before allowing me to cheer again, even though I begged her to let me cheer.”
Another cheerleader said, “Coach Izzy always makes sure to put our physical safety first… and if she needs to miss a practice, she has communicated that and made proper arrangements for our athletic director to supervise [during scaled back practices with no stunts or tumbling.]”
Several responses also said that Preston was encouraging, inspiring and a key to the team’s success. “I have never experienced her ever speak negatively about me or other teammates,” said one.
On February 24, the district sent a letter in response to the Tribune’s California Public Records Act (CPRA) that said it determined there were no responsive records in response to requests on an investigation into formal complaints submitted about Izzy Preston.
However, according to investigation results summarized to the Tribune by people who filed formal complaints, Preston had substantiated allegations.
The investigations did not find that Preston had a substantiated death threat, but that some of her conduct was unprofessional, including the language she used. It was acknowledged that she had said, “I’m going to kill you” to cheerleaders, but that it wasn’t considered a serious death threat.
Her unprofessional conduct included that she had said, “That stunt looks like sh**,” to cheerleaders, resulting in public humiliation. Evidence also supported that the information shared by Preston to athletes contributed to tension and divisiveness.
However, investigations did not substantiate that Preston disregarded athlete safety.
The investigations also supported displays of unequal treatment towards cheerleaders, but not enough evidence to support favoritism. Hemenes alleged that she has since seen Preston ask varsity cheerleaders to help coach JV.
In addition, some parents are still uncomfortable with filing a formal complaint. They worry their children will experience negative consequences for complaining, or their student-athletes worry they will not be allowed to compete if they speak up.
One parent who had filed a formal complaint told the Tribune, “The district does not have to answer your emails or complaints until you file a formal complaint. I know firsthand because some of my emails were not answered.”
Superintendent and current human resources director Dr. Todd Cutler told the Tribune that any substantiated complaints have corrective action, and that even unsubstantiated complaints are considered when deciding what actions to take. “Unsubstantiated doesn’t mean that they’re lying; it means we couldn’t confirm it via investigation. And we have to make decisions based on evidence,” said Cutler.
“Athletics is risky, but students’ social, physical and emotional safety is something we take seriously,” he continued. “Retaliation is something we look into.”
Cutler welcomed formal complaints to the school, which can be filed at the district office through the Uniform Complaint Procedure.
“That formal complaint was not to get anyone fired, it was to address issues,” said Hemenes. “I want everyone to work together so my cheerleaders can cheer at the high school level in the future. We’re a small town. We need to work together, not against each other.”
Preston gave the Tribune one official comment. “I’m proud of the cheer program and what we’ve built,” she said.
