A history teacher at Morro Bay High School lost his job as football coach after school leaders
say he used a slur in front of the football team, but community members are asking for harsher punishment.
GALA, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of the Central Coast, along with a handful of other groups
are asking for the San Luis Coastal Unified School District to investigate the actions of former football coach David Kelley.
As a fourth generation Morro Bay High School alumnus, this incident hit home for GALA Board
President Ryan Duclos.
“It took me 21 years to come out, and when they see this type of speech that is said by someone
that they look up to as a teacher with just a slap on the hand, it doesn’t make them feel comfortable in their school,” said Duclos.
David Kelley was fired as varsity football head coach last week, after school leaders say
he used a term offensive to the LGBTQ community on October 24th.
He’s still listed as a teacher at the school.
In a letter addressed to the school district and the Morro Bay High School Principal, GALA
and 13 other nonprofits ask to suspend Kelley from teaching.
“We don’t feel that it is appropriate for him to be teaching students and being around students
until they know if there are more incidences of this,” added Duclos.
According to GALA’s Facebook page, one person who claims to be a former student of Kelley
said the teacher “made uncomfortable comments about gay people on multiple occasions.”
Duclos also said GALA has received phone calls from students who tell similar stories.
KSBY made multiple attempts to contact San Luis Coastal Unified School District, Morro Bay
High School and David Kelley Monday.
KSBY received an email from the district Monday night saying it would comment at a later date.
Last week, Principal Kyle Pruitt said the incident was sickening.
“Comments marginalizing to other students or other populations are not making people safe
and it’s not okay,” said Dr. Pruitt.
The letter goes on to say that Dr. Pruitt handled the matter quickly, but GALA wonders if
the outcome would have been different if a racially charged word had been used.
GALA is offering resources for the LGBTQ community and anyone who was affected by the incident.
