SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The Friday night Vista High School-Poway High School football game was canceled, with Vista High forfeiting the contest, according to Poway Unified School District officials.
On Thursday afternoon, PUSD officials confirmed with ABC 10News that the game, which was scheduled for 7 p.m., would not happen after Vista High chose to forfeit.
In a tweet, Poway High’s football program stated: “Tomorrow's varsity game at Vista HS has been canceled and will not be rescheduled.”
Poway High’s freshman team and junior varsity games against Vista High had already been canceled Wednesday afternoon. Those games will not be rescheduled as well, the football program tweeted.
On Thursday afternoon, school officials sent a letter to parents that stated:
“Out of an abundance of caution, we have canceled all after school activities today and tomorrow. Our campus will be closed at 4:00 p.m., and we have asked all staff and students to leave by that time.
In addition, we have worked with the site and district administration and with the football coaches and have made the difficult decision to cancel this Friday’s Varsity football game as a result of the behavior at the protest last evening.
Working in consultation with our outside investigator and the Vista Sheriff Department, we are continuing to investigate the incident last night, the disturbing social media posts regarding school safety issues, and the locker room incident. This will be ongoing in the coming days.
We appreciate everyone who has reached out with questions and additional information and will continue our commitment to keep you informed as we all work to address this challenge."
The cancellation of games comes as members of the Vista High football program face misconduct accusations that are being investigated by the school and district, as well as the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Vista High’s varsity head football coach was placed on administrative leave pending the conclusion of an outside investigation, district officials said earlier this week.
While details on the locker room incident have been scarce, numerous parents and students have expressed anger and frustration over how the school and Vista Unified School District have responded.
One protest was held Wednesday afternoon, with demonstrators calling for more action from the school and district.
Two other protests — one outside of Vista High and the other outside of district headquarters — took place Thursday afternoon.
