The Coronado Unified School District’s Governing Board has fired the head basketball coach of Coronado High School after an incident on Saturday where at least two of the team's players threw tortillas at players from Orange Glen High, a predominantly Latino school in Escondido.
The district's governing board announced their decision after holding an emergency meeting on Tuesday night to “hear the initial results of ongoing investigations and consider additional actions that may need to be taken,” according to a letter sent to the Escondido Union High School District.
Videos of the incident were shared on social media, drawing criticism from local residents and officials.
Coronado school district officials also apologized to Orange Glen High.
Members of the public took the opportunity to air their grievances with the board.
“We don't need anybody to explain anything else to us. We know what we saw, and it hurts,” said one member of the public. Another added, “Those weren’t tortillas, those were bombs of racism being thrown at people.”
The Coronado team captain spoke at the board meeting as well.
“I think many people are making Saturday out to be something that it was not,” he said.
“The throwing of tortillas during the scuffle after the game was unsportsmanlike and inexcusable and, on behalf of the team, we apologize for that action.”
The high school sports association for Southern California is now investigating the incident along with both school districts and the Coronado Police Department.
Local Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez shared her thoughts on Twitter following the Saturday game, posting, "We should have universal condemnation of this activity.”
“Parents in SD County know that racist taunts against latino athletes are too commonplace. It’s time to stop it.”