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 and outside areas, and misplaced trash have been common complaints in the last decade.^[10] 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.^[11] As of now,^[when?] this has proved to be effective in clearing the sky of seagulls and keeping the ground clean.^{[citation needed]}

Measure D

In 2014 a $177 million bond was passed to renovate infrastructure of schools in SLCUSD.^[12][13] Since 2016, the school has gone through heavy construction with renovations such as renovation of the auto shop,^[14] a new pool,^[15] student services building (new office), all-weather track,^[16] STEAM complex (J Wing Renovation),^[17] and New Band and Agriculture Shop Classroom.^[18][19] Current renovations have added up to around $12 million. The school anticipates $33 more million worth of construction, with a remodeled cafeteria/multipurpose room,^[20] renovation to the quad,^[21] renovation of the classrooms,^[22] and restoration of the old gym.^[23]

Football controversy

This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. (May 2022)

On October 24th, 2018, David Kelly, who was a football coach, received backlash from the community and school administration after calling one of his football players "a homosexual".^[24] 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".^[25] However, the position of school officials for the firing remains unclear.^[24] Though he is banned from coaching football, he currently still attains his position as a history teacher.^[26] This event had seen a reaction from the football team, local LGBT groups, the school community, and administration.

Key accounts and 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 Brebes, 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."^[24] 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 and 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."^[27] 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 and unverified claims.^[27]

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.^[25] 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.^[28] 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 a part in 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 Brebes 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."^[29] 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.”^[29]

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."^[25]

Sports leagues

Since 2018, Morro Bay High School has competed in the Central Coast Athletic Association (CCAA), a conference affiliated with the CIF Central Section. The CCAA places each team by sport and gender into one of its two constituent leagues — the upper Mountain League and the lower Ocean League — based on performance.^[35] Until the 2017–18 school year, MBHS and neighboring Central Coast schools were part of the CIF Southern Section, a highly competitive grouping whose footprint included around 600 schools stretching from south of Los Angeles to northern San Luis Obispo County.^[35][36]

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.^[37] The course was currently changed to remove a portion that goes through an area that is near a snowy plover preservation.^[38]

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 and out-of-state Nevada annually.^{[51][52][53][54]} The wrestling team has shown to be a top contender in this event notably finishing 7th out of 90 schools in 2019.^[55]