SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The CIF confirmed to ABC 10News on Tuesday that the Coronado Unified School District has filed an appeal to its ruling that strips Coronado High of its basketball championship. The ruling was in response to a game where tortillas were thrown at a visiting team from a predominantly Latino school after Coronado's championship win.
The appeal is also in response to several other sanctions issued by the CIF.
Meanwhile, a group gathered in front of the district’s office saying they’d like the focus to be on moving forward.
Marely Ramirez, with the Coronado community group InclusioNado, said the district needs, "to acknowledge it’s time to start the reconciliation process between communities, we are focusing on the feelings of the Escondido community."
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Coronado Unified School District to appeal CIF ruling over tortilla throwing
- Coronado High School stripped of championship title following tortilla-throwing incident
- Man who brought tortillas to Coronado High game speaks out
Members of InclusioNado offered an apology to Orange Glen High School. They say the apology is the beginning of the process of healing in an effort to open the lines of communication between both the Escondido and Coronado communities.
Just a few weeks ago, a group of dozens of people who wanted to show their support for the boy's basketball team from Coronado High gathered at the district's office. People at the rally, including Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey, wanted the board to walk back any previous comments they made condemning the act as racially motivated until the investigation was done.
ABC 10News reached out to Bailey to get his take on this group’s apology, but have yet to hear back from him.
"They rushed to judgment, they didn't have any facts, and they based all of their information or their letter to the world on a false narrative that was basically phrased by the other team," said Coronado resident Mike Keeney.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Coronado Unified School District votes to oust head basketball coach following tortilla-throwing incident
- Tortillas hurled at Orange Glen basketball team after game against Coronado High
- San Diego NAACP calls on CIF to ban two Coronado High players, parents involved in tortilla-throwing incident
- Coronado Unified School District holding emergency meeting over tortilla incident
The man who brought the tortillas to the game, Luke Serna, told ABC 10News, he graduated from Coronado High in 1999 and went to UC Santa Barbara where tortilla tossing is a tradition. He says he brought them to be used in a celebratory action.
"You have to be sensitive to how they believe it looks and throwing tortillas at a predominantly Hispanic school doesn't look good. You kind of have to look at both perspectives. I'm a black man. If I was at another school and somebody was throwing stuff that seemed races like bananas or watermelons I would be pretty upset," said Wayne McKinney, a captain for the Coronado High basketball team.
