He threatened to snap a girl’s neck. Don’t let this SLO County teacher back in a classroom

An out-of-control teacher who was caught on video threatening to snap a girl’s neck — and was then pulled away by his own daughter — should never be allowed back in a classroom.

Think about it. Would you want a teacher with such a short fuse in charge of your kids?

We don’t know all the particulars of the Oct. 12 incident, but the video shows Morro Bay High School teacher David Kelley on the grounds of Los Osos Middle School with his daughter, who gets into an altercation with another girl.

Kelley’s daughter throws a punch at the other girl, and the two are then pulled apart by adults.

As Kelley and his daughter walk away, the girl who was punched yells, “Right here, b----, walk away with your little daddy.”

What happens next is truly frightening.

Kelley pivots, strides toward the girl, gets right up in her face and advances on her as another woman tries to intervene by pulling the girl away.

“You know what I’m going to do? Snap your neck is what I do,” he yells. “Threaten my child again. Threaten my child again and see what happens to you. See what happens to me. Threaten my family. See what will happen.”

We don’t know what the fight between the two girls was about.

But it really doesn’t matter, because almost no scenario excuses such aggressive behavior from a high school teacher, who should have an array of coping skills to deal with all types of tense situations involving students.

Instead, Kelley, a supposed grown adult, barreled across the schoolyard and unleashed the full force of his toxic masculinity, under the comical guise of protecting his family from a teenage girl.

Thankfully, someone had the presence of mind to shoot a video so there can be no denying what happened.

Anti-gay hate speech

This is the second strike against Kelley, who is currently on paid administrative leave in the wake of the more recent incident.

In 2018, he lost his job as Morro Bay High football coach after making an ugly anti-gay slur.

There were two versions of what he told a junior varsity player in the locker room.

“Stop looking at me like a homosexual and get the (expletive) to practice,” was one.

“Why are you looking at me like a gay homosexual mother------?” was the other.

Gay rights organizations called for Kelley to be suspended, and they wanted a thorough investigation into whether this was an isolated incident or a pattern of behavior.

But schools officials told The Tribune he hasn’t shown a pattern of intolerant behavior or comments, and pointed out that he had apologized.

While he was fired from his coaching job, he was allowed to stay on as a teacher.

“That (apology) is the beginning, I imagine, of Mr. Kelley’s genuine efforts to reconcile his actions with the MBHS community,” San Luis Coastal District Superintendent Eric Prater said at the time. “The impact and loss of trust between adults and the student body will be felt well beyond the apology. We intend to address this thoroughly and with honesty.”

In other words, Kelley got a second chance to embarrass the district.

He should never get a third, not at San Luis Coastal or any other school district.

No criminal charges

Kelley’s threatening behavior was egregious — so much so that it’s disappointing no criminal case will be pursued; the Sheriff’s Office concluded it didn’t rise to the level of a crime that warranted forwarding to the district attorney.

Yet under California penal code, any person who threatens someone with great bodily harm — even if there is no intent of actually carrying out the threat — can be charged with either a misdemeanor or felony.

With no criminal action, that leaves it up to the school district to act.

Of course, Kelley is entitled to due process, but it seems clear under the Education Code that behavior like this is grounds for dismissal.

Those grounds include:

• Immoral conduct
• Unprofessional conduct
• Dishonesty
• Unsatisfactory performance
• Evident unfitness for service

If this wasn’t unprofessional conduct and unsatisfactory performance, it’s hard to imagine what would be.

Another thing: Threatening someone with bodily harm can get a student expelled from a California school.

Shouldn’t the same rule apply to teachers?

It’s true that in the heat of the moment, people do and say rash things, especially when they believe their loved ones are being mistreated.

In some circumstances, allowances should be made, but by appearances, this isn’t one of those.

Based on that video, Kelley’s reaction was totally out of proportion; a bigger man would have walked away, leaving it to Los Osos Middle School administrators to handle with a follow-up investigation.

School districts should not tolerate employees who cannot control their emotions, explode in anger and threaten students with physical harm, either in or out of the classroom.

David Kelley has now repeatedly demonstrated that he is an immature and volatile hothead who is unfit to educate children.

San Luis Coastal administrators, please, do not give him another chance to prove that again.