Morro Bay High School

Morro Bay High School is a four-year public high school located in the city of Morro Bay along the coast of San Luis Obispo County, California.

Morro Bay High School
Location
Morro Bay High School
235 Atascadero Rd

Morro Bay
,
California
Information
Established1956
School districtSan Luis Coastal Unified School District
PrincipalDr. Kyle Pruitt
Teaching staff40.98 (FTE)[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment821 (2017-18)[1]
Student to teacher ratio20.03[1]
ScheduleAll Classes Daily
School color(s)               Black, White, & Blue
Team namePirates
RivalSan Luis Obispo High School
Newspaperhttps://mbspyglass.org
Websitehttps://mbhs.slcusd.org/

Students of the school are typically residents of Morro Bay, Los Osos (to the south), and Cayucos (to the north). On average, enrollment ranges from 800 to 900 students a year. The school is roughly 60 meters from the beach (.04 mile) and 228 meters (.14 mile) from the Pacific Ocean.

History

Morro Bay High School was first conceived in 1956 when the city voted bonds for its construction, winning by a ratio of four to one. The school was completed in 1959.[2][3] Initially, the school had served 5 grades throughout the late 60s: 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, & 11th Grade.[4][5] Around the late to early 70s the school later followed the common structure of an "American four-year high school".

Health Hazards

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.

Measure D

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

Football Controversy

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]

Demographics

The major groups that encompass the racial makeup of the school can be summarized as White, followed by Hispanics and Filipino-Americans. On the latter end, Asians and African-Americans.

Class White Hispanic Filipino Black Asian Other/Unspecified Percentage by Race per Class (Major Groups) Other Races by Percentage Total
2010 192 19 12 2 1 1 (84.5% White, 8.37% Hispanic, 5.28% Filipino) (Black .88%, Asian .44%, Indian .44%) 227
2011 159 47 6 4 3 4 (71.3% White, 21.07% Hispanic, 2.69% Filipino) (Black 1.79%, Asian 1.35%, Indian 1.35%) 223
2012 below: to be added soon
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018 136 35 19 3 9 3 (67.0% White, 17.24% Hispanic, 9.36% Filipino) (Black 1.48%, Asian 4.43%, Indian 1.48%) 203
2019 145 26 11 6 6 N/A (74.7% White, 13.40% Hispanic, 5.67% Filipino) (Black 3.10%, Asian 3.10%, Indian 2.06%) 194
2020 117 39 11 5 7 N/A (65.4% White, 21.8% Hispanic, 6.15% Filipino) (Black 2.79%, Asian 3.91%, Indian 0.56%) 179
2021 155 40 16 3 3 3 (70.8% White, 18.26% Hispanic, 7.31% Filipino) (Black 1.37%, Asian 1.37%, Hawaiian 0.45%) 219

these statistics are all based on all based on the analysis of a culmination of Yearbooks from, 2010, 2011, & 2018

In 2019, total minority enrollment was 35%, and 31% of students are considered to be economically disadvantaged.[26]

Clubs
  • Art Club
  • AVID
  • Biobuilders (BioTech)
  • FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes)
  • FFA (Future Farmers of America)
  • FNL (Friday Night Live)
  • Environmental Club
  • Interact
  • Kindness Club
  • MBHS Kayaking Club
  • MBHS Theatre Arts
  • Mock Trial
  • Music History Club
  • Power Lifting Club
  • S.A.G.A (Sexuality and Gender Acceptance)
  • Society of Women Engineers
  • Students for Social Justice
  • Surf
  • Swing Dancing Club
  • Tabletop RPG Club
  • Underwater Robotics
  • VEX Robotics Club

Note: these are the clubs as of 2020[27]

Sports
Sports Teams Boys Girls Notable Achievements
Cross Country Junior Varsity and Varsity Yes Yes -
Football Junior Varsity and Varsity (girls accepted) Yes Coed -
Golf Junior Varsity and Varsity Yes Yes -
Tennis Junior Varsity and Varsity (no boys JV) Yes Yes -
Volleyball Freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity. Yes Yes -
Water Polo Junior Varsity and Varsity Yes Yes -
Basketball Junior Varsity and Varsity Yes Yes -
Soccer Junior Varsity and Varsity Yes Yes -
Wrestling Junior Varsity and Varsity Yes Yes -
Baseball Freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity Yes No -
Softball Junior Varsity and Varsity No Yes -
Stunt Varsity Yes Yes -
Swimming Junior Varsity and Varsity Yes Yes -
Track & Field Junior Varsity and Varsity Yes Yes -

Note: These are the sports running currently as of 2020[28]

Sports Leagues

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]

Cross Country

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]

Recent Changes

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.

Notable Achievements

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]

Wrestling

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]

Academic reputation

Morro Bay High School as of 2019 is ranked the 649th out of 2,494 high schools in California (4,424th nationally) by U.S News's metric. In October 2017, it was ranked the 475th best high school in California (2,432nd nationally) by Newsweek. It was previously ranked the 432nd best High School in the 2011 Newsweek article titled "America's Best High Schools",[50] It was previously ranked the 432nd best High School in the 2011 Newsweek article titled "America's Best High Schools",[50] and was reported to have the highest average SAT score (2245 out of 2400) amongst these schools. The LA Times, however, reported that the average SAT score at the school was 1649.[51]

In 2006, Morro Bay High School was named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.

In 2005 and 2009 and 2013, Morro Bay High School was accredited as a California Distinguished School by WASC.

The graduation rate at the school is 95% according to USnews.com.

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References
  1. "Morro Bay High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  2. "HISTORY IN SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY Site created and maintained by Lynne Landwehr". historyinslocounty.org. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  3. "A Timeline – Historical Society of Morro Bay". Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  4. "1961 Morro Bay High School Yearbook". classmates.com. 1969.
  5. "1966 Morro Bay High School Yearbook". 1966.
  6. audreyjmcclish (2018-12-18). "Feathered Friends or Feathered Fiends?". Morro Bay Spyglass. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  7. HS, Morro Bay (2017-12-11). "Whoot Hoot! One of our seagull deterant team!pic.twitter.com/sZR6M65vFA". @MorroBayHS. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  8. "Measure-D". measured.slcusd.org. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  9. Cooley, Ryah. "Out with the old: Long awaited Measure D renovations begin for SLO and Morro Bay high schools". New Times San Luis Obispo. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  10. measured.slcusd.org https://measured.slcusd.org/measure-d-project-details.php?id=5. Retrieved 2020-01-24. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. measured.slcusd.org https://measured.slcusd.org/measure-d-project-details.php?id=6. Retrieved 2020-01-24. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. measured.slcusd.org https://measured.slcusd.org/measure-d-project-details.php?id=7. Retrieved 2020-01-24. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. measured.slcusd.org https://measured.slcusd.org/measure-d-project-details.php?id=8. Retrieved 2020-01-24. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. measured.slcusd.org https://measured.slcusd.org/measure-d-project-details.php?id=12. Retrieved 2020-01-24. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. measured.slcusd.org https://measured.slcusd.org/measure-d-school-details.php?id=13. Retrieved 2020-01-24. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. measured.slcusd.org https://measured.slcusd.org/measure-d-project-details.php?id=10. Retrieved 2020-01-24. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. measured.slcusd.org https://measured.slcusd.org/measure-d-project-details.php?id=13. Retrieved 2020-01-24. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. measured.slcusd.org https://measured.slcusd.org/measure-d-project-details.php?id=9. Retrieved 2020-01-24. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. measured.slcusd.org https://measured.slcusd.org/measure-d-project-details.php?id=11. Retrieved 2020-01-24. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. "Why was Morro Bay High School's football coach really fired?". Cal Coast News. 2018-11-01. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  21. Rainbolt, Adam (2018-11-14). "Editorial: Students Respond to Mr. Kelley Controversy". Morro Bay Spyglass. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  22. Wilson, Nick (October 30, 2018). "Morro Bay football coach fired over LGBTQ comments". SLO Tribune.
  23. "Local groups ask for punishment of former Morro Bay football coach after LGBTQ slur". KSBY. 2018-11-06. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  24. "Morro Bay High School teacher fired as head football coach". KSBY. 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  25. "California HS coach fired for hateful LGBTQ speech defended by players". USA TODAY High School Sports. 2018-11-02. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  26. "Morro Bay High High School Ranking". https://www.usnews.com/. 2019. External link in |website= (help)
  27. "Clubs". mbhs.slcusd.org. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  28. "MORRO BAY HIGH SCHOOL 2018/2019 ATHLETIC TEAMS BY GRADE AND GENDER". Google Docs. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  29. Johnson, Peter (October 31, 2017). "Central Coast high schools ready to launch new athletic leagues, depart Southern Section". Santa Maria Sun.
  30. Gibson, Travis (June 20, 2018). "SLO County schools will compete in Central Section this fall. The new leagues look like this". The Tribune.
  31. Morro Bay HS Cross Country Course, retrieved 2020-01-22
  32. "Morro Bay Cross Country - MB Invite". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  33. "Morro Bay State Competitions". Google Docs. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
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  35. "1994 CIF State Cross Country Championships - Cross Country Meet". Athletic.net. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  36. "1995 CIF State Cross Country Championships - Cross Country Meet". Athletic.net. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  37. "Morro Bay Cross Country - History". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  38. "1991 CIF State Cross Country Championships - Cross Country Meet". Athletic.net. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  39. "1992 CIF State Cross Country Championships - Cross Country Meet". Athletic.net. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  40. "1990 CIF State Cross Country Championships - Cross Country Meet". Athletic.net. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  41. "1994 CIF State Cross Country Championships - Cross Country Meet". Athletic.net. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  42. "1995 CIF State Cross Country Championships - Cross Country Meet". Athletic.net. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  43. "1997 CIF State Cross Country Championships - Cross Country Meet". Athletic.net. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  44. "1998 CIF State Cross Country Championships - Cross Country Meet". Athletic.net. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  45. "66th annual Sam Boyd C.I.T. kicks off on Friday". KSBY. 2020-01-17. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  46. "C.I.T. Wrestling Tournament: Championship Finals". KSBY. 2019-01-20. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  47. "2018 CIT Wrestling Tournament Jan 19-20 at Morro Bay High School". forum.thecaliforniawrestler.com. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  48. "2017 C.I.T. Wrestling Tournament @ Morro Bay HS Jan 20-21". forum.thecaliforniawrestler.com. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  49. Rainbolt, Adam (2019-01-25). "MBHS Wrestlers Earn 7th Place at CIT, Multiple Students Place". Morro Bay Spyglass. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  50. America's Best High Schools 2011 Archived 2011-10-16 at the Wayback Machine.
  51. Top Average SAT Scores.

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