Morro Bay High School

Being located right next to the ocean, the quad has faced multiple problems regarding seagulls. Problems such as noise pollution, defecation in the quad/outside areas, and misplaced trash have been common complaints in the last decade.[6] According to faculty, the school had been power washed two times before 2016. Since 2017, the school has hired a "birdman" to use predatory birds (hawks, owls, and falcons) to patrol the school, acting as a deterrent to the seagulls.[7] As of now, this has proved to be effective in clearing the sky of seagulls and keeping the ground clean.

In 2014 a $177 million bond was passed to renovate infrastructure of schools in SLCUSD.[8][9] Since 2016, the school has gone through heavy construction with renovations such as renovation of the auto shop,[10] a new pool,[11] student services building (new office), all-weather track,[12] STEAM complex (J Wing Renovation),[13] and New Band and Agriculture Shop Classroom.[14][15] Current renovations have added up to around $12 million. The school anticipates $33 more million worth of construction, with a remodeled cafeteria/multipurpose room,[16] renovation to the quad,[17] renovation of the classrooms,[18] and restoration of the old gym.[19]

bird's view of campus late 2018, featuring the then-new arts & engineering buildings

all weather track which was opened on October 12, 2018

construction of student office over the summer of 2019, it was opened early 2020

On October 24th, David Kelly, who was a football coach, received backlash from the community & school administration after calling one of his football players "a homosexual".[20] According to principal Dr. Kyle Pruitt, he was fired as head coach on the grounds of using "unacceptable verbal interaction that was insensitive to the LGBTQ community between a coach/teacher and a student-athlete on our campus".[21] However, the position of school officials for the firing remains unclear.[20] Though he is banned from coaching football, he currently still attains his position as a history teacher.[22] This event had seen a reaction from the football team, local LGBT groups, the school community, and administration.

David Kelly, former Coach (2015-2018)

Key Accounts & Disputes

Primary accounts of the incident can be attributed to the football players themselves, who that had confirmed him saying these words. According to Rocky Bebes, after "one junior varsity player kept sitting in the locker room and smiling at the head coach," Kelly got mad at the player, telling him "to stop looking at him like a homosexual and to get the hell to practice." [20] After this occurrence, it escalated quickly as the junior then ran out of the locker room, where many students from an athletics class witnessed him screaming & cursing at Kelly from a distance for over five minutes.

Reactions from Local LGBT Groups

According to major local media outlet KSBY, upon hearing of the situation, local LGBT groups have taken it upon themselves to claim the situation as "marginalizing toward certain groups". According to KSBY, "GALA (Gay and Lesbian Alliance of the Central Coast) and 13 other nonprofits" have asked "to suspend Kelley from teaching."[23] The President of the GALA Ryan Duclos has also made unverified claims that "GALA has received phone calls from students who tell similar stories" relating to "uncomfortable comments about gay people on multiple occasions" from Kelly. Furthermore, people on the GALA Facebook page has reportedly made similarly structured & unverified claims.[23]

Reaction from the football team

Many of the players of the football team had instigated that the situation was one taken advantage of by the school, in simple terms a ploy. Known for having performed poorly in football the past three years, the football team assumed that the losing record of Morro Bay as of recently played a "factor" in his firing.[21] This is known as the Morro Bay varsity team had finished the 2018 season 1-9 over and 0-5 (win/loss) in Ocean League.[24] Students on the football team, being primary witnesses to the situation, have believed that the performance of the football team under Coach Kelly had played apart of his firing. Despite the principal labeling the situation as one that was "hate speech", it is known that the school officials had not clearly defined their actually position of why they had fired him. In response to the school's administration, many of the players have voiced their support of the coach with player Rocky Bebes stating "I love Coach Kelley, and so does every single person on our varsity team." Expressing the football team's relation to the coach Bebes empathized, "He was more than a coach to us. He became family, and he always had our back. Whenever we were hungry, he would always get us food. If we ever needed clothes, he would always find us some clothes. Whenever we needed help in school because of bad grades or any of that, he would always find us support."[25] Furthermore, Jim Pugh, the father of one of his players expressed sympathy, saying, “He is human and made a mistake. He is suffering, as are his boys. He was being disrespected by a young man who thinks telling an adult to f*** off is acceptable. He is a good man who has nurtured and loved all of those boys.”[25]

Reactions from the school's LGBT community

Despite claims by the local LGBT community within the region calling for the completely removal of Kelly's teaching position, according to the school's primary news outlet, comments from the school's very own LGBT group are more moderate in their reaction. According to a school reporter Adam Rainbolt, out of the six anonymous members of the then-existing LGBT community (members of the SAGA club), two have reported to not know about this event, two "were somewhat unclear about what had occurred", whereas the remaining two had voiced some distaste but sympathy despite his actions. Albeit, one noted “what he said was offensive to a lot of people” while the other shared "they think that a coach should be supportive of everyone", in response to the situation having said that, to an extent, the actions of the school were “harsh”. One of them had also stated, "it was surprising because I know him as such a calm, caring person for his students and his team, but I know he has acted out of anger in the past."[21]

Until the Summer of 2018, Morro Bay High School along with nearby schools such as Nipomo, Templeton, Atascadero, Mission Prep, Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo, St. Joseph, Pioneer Valley, Righetti, Santa Maria, Orcutt Academy, and Paso Robles had formerly been a part of the CIF Southern Section, a highly competitive region with around 600 schools that stretched from south of Los Angeles to northern San Luis Obispo County.[29][30]

Since Fall of 2018, the school has been a part of a much smaller central division consisting of around 102 schools. Each sport are placed in one of two leagues based on their performance. The Mountain League is made up of teams based on success of recent years, whereas the Ocean League is made up of less successful sports programs which is decided by the CCAC.[30]

Morro Bay hosts a Cross Country Invitational in September yearly, attended by over 30 schools with an attendance of around 900 runners overall. The course is currently 2.7 miles which goes through the school and nearby beach, 1 mile of the 2.7 mile course going through soft sand. The event also features a shorter 2 mile course.[31] The course was currently changed to remove a portion that goes through an area that is near a snowy plover preservation.[32]

Preceding the shift to a Central Section, the varsity team was required to get top in League in order to proceed in Southern League. After League, it was required to get through both Prelims and Finals, where it was required to finish 6th or above out of 12 in order to get to state. Now all teams in the league can get to Finals which has been reduced to one CIF Finals match (finish 6th or above out of 12) in order to proceed to state. This has been done due to the smaller nature of the Central Section compared to the Southern Section.

Morro Bay had notably been historically dominant in league between the 1980s and early 2010s, winning over 20 league titles in the now dissolved Los Padres League, going to CIF 25+ times in the highly competitive Southern Section, and going to state over 20 times.

Morro Bay High School has been referenced in the 2015 American sports drama film McFarland, USA in a scene in which Palo Alto, McFarland, and another school compete. Contrary to popular belief, Morro Bay was a historical rival to McFarland in Cross Country in state prior to the 2000s more so than Palo Alto, having met McFarland at state over 15 times.[33]

In 1993, Morro Bay lost to McFarland by 2 points. In 1994, Morro Bay tied with McFarland for first but lost due to a tie breaker decided by the 6th runner. Then lost first place again the next year for state to McFarland, getting second.[34][35][36] Throughout the late 80s, 90s, and 2000s both schools had consistently met at the state competition placing above or below each other (division VI).

The school, in the Southern Section, has gone to CIF State XC in 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2013.[37][38][39][34][40][41][42][43][44]

Morro Bay High School has notably hosted the Sam Boyd California Invitational Tournament, one of the biggest wrestling tournaments in California, hosting over 90 teams and over 980 wrestlers from California & out-of-state Nevada annually.[45][46][47][48] The wrestling team has shown to be a top contender in this event notably finishing 7 out of 90 schools in 2019.[49]