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Arroyo Grande teacher takes students to nude beach

March 2, 2010

By KAREN VELIE

An Arroyo Grande High School photography teacher allegedly took four students on an unapproved field trip to a local nude beach, and now some parents are upset.

“I think it was bizarre,” said one parent who asked to remain anonymous because of her daughter’s discomfort with the situation. “It was not appropriate.”

While some of the teenage girls’ parents had signed broad waivers allowing photography teacher Allen Fraser to take their children off campus for photo taking, some had not signed the releases.

On Feb. 17, Fraser asked four of his first and second period students to accompany him to Pirates Cove, a nude beach with a reputation as a hook-up spot for homosexuals. Fraser drove two of the girls to the beach in his car and two others followed in their own car, according to parents.

When they arrived at the beach, the girls were instructed to shoot photos.

Currently, a lawsuit filed by San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Deputy John Franklin claims that, because of a brush with a masturbating homosexual he encountered at Pirates Cove during an undercover sting operation, he suffers from mental and emotional distress.

Arroyo Grande High School Principal Ryan Pinkerton told CalCoastNews he was unaware of the teacher’s excursion to Pirates Cove.

“Just going there is inappropriate,” Pinkerton said.

Pinkerton had said he would look into the issue and respond. However, his staff then forwarded all requests for comment to the district office. Officials at the Lucia Mar School District were unavailable for comment.


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Cheeseburger…why the profanity? Can’t you speak english without the drama? The article opened up the eyes of a lot of parents of students that attend AGHS… I guess by your posts, you don’t get it…Point blank, Pirates Cove is not a vista point for minors to go on a field trip for “rock climbing”, or nature walks…it’s a documented known magnet for creeps…AND teachers are not supposed to take them there on a student vote! He was way out of line. This was his call and his judgement was poor…this is what parents fight for in their children’s lives…to protect them and to be safe…read your newspapers and don’t be so ignorant….please…that is why the school has log in and log out requirements as well as permission slips for these kinds of things…it’s serious…students can get hurt and teachers can loose jobs over a decision like this…it IS serious and not funny…our kids are out there trying to fit in and this needs to stop….so let’s move on and hope that Mr. Fraser talks to his students and tells them that his actions in taking lead was inappropriate.


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I HAVE WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED THAT DAY, 1,2 PERIOD WENT TO TAKE PICTURES OF NATURE AND SO WE WENT TO PIRETS COVE TO DO THIS WE TOOK PORTRAITS , AND WE WENT AROUND TO GET NATURE SHOTS, I HAVE THES SHOTS AND SO MANY MORE ON MY FLICKER ACCOUNT. I LOOK UP TO FRASER HES A COOL TEACHER MY FAVORITE TEACHER AND EVERYONE IS BLOWING THIS OUT OF PROPORTION. 3 OF MY FRIENDS WERE ON THE RAIDIO, AND YOU PUT MY FRIENDS DOWN THIS IS NOT APPRECIATED, THEY WERE TELLING THE TRUTH AND WE HAVE THE EVIDENCE, SOMEONE ISNT DOING THERE RESEARCH. SO ALL IN A NUT SHELL WE WENT TO DO NATURE SHOTS STAYED ON ONE SIDE OF THE MY FLICKER ACOUNT IS BRAZEAL, AND THE PICTURES ARE IN THE MOST OBVIOS PLACE (PIRATES COVE FOLDER) GET YOUR STORY RIGHT THE FIRST TIME AND MAYBE YOU WOULDN’T HAVE 63 TEENS JUNIORS AND SENIORS FOLLOWING YOUR EVERY MOVE WERE EVEN MAKING T-SHIRTS TO SUPPORT FRASER, AND THIS IS ALSO SETTING BACK OUR EDUCATION IN PHOTO NOT APPRECIATED. WERE A GREAT FAMILY IN THIS CLASS AND FRASER IS NOT BY ANY MEANS WHAT YOU SAY HE IS.


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Hey Beazeal, Right on support your teacher, he did nothing wrong, a lot of people on this blog would prefer to be fully clothed at all times, specifically the Muslim population, what are they a few hundred years or thousands behind the times, still beheading women for not covering their

beautiful faces, seems the common mentality of the people justifying this slanderous article.

Your teacher will be cleared of any and all wrong doing! And to all the well clothed closed minded bloggers you must prefer smog, dirt, asphalt, concrete, noisy roads and stench over the beautiful scenery you can find at the cove. All of you should take the short drive take your camera and go to the parking lot right now and come back with some hard evidence, you are loosing this case, take some pictures of what you claim exists.


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Students should not be taken to Pirates Cove for outings. Nude models will come soon enough when the artists attend college. High school students don’t belong down on that beach.

It was obvious that the students (if they were who they say they are) who called in to KVEC to protect their fun teacher were not telling the truth and/or probably weren’t even there.


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The Article reads, must be the new editor in chief seems things have change dramatically, “Currently, a lawsuit filed by San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Deputy John Franklin claims that, because of a brush with a masturbating homosexual he encountered at Pirates Cove during an undercover sting operation, he suffers from mental and emotional distress.,,,,” what in hell does this have to do with the photography teacher, he’s not Catholic, you guys paint an ugly picture of some one who just could be the best teacher around, DARE, go there and judge for yourself, you may come away with an entirely different perspective.


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Okay, I have read the comments, I listened to Karen on Dave’s show, I listened to the students who called in to inform Karen of her omission of the presence of the entire class for the trip; what I don’t see is how any teacher can allow any student into their personal vehicle. The teacher did go to the trouble to make sure that he was not alone with a single student by having more than one in his car, but seriously he should have had another adult with him to avoid any possible awkward situations concerning being alone with students off campus. To me it doesn’t matter if the students did not leave the parking lot area at Pirates Cove; it was poor judgement for the teacher to allow this trip, period. I also wonder if every single parent understand that by simply having their student in this class, they can go off campus at any time, go virtually anywhere to pursue the class object of learning photography. I can clearly see that the teacher did not intend to allow the students to go onto the beach, to interact with any possible nude patrons of the area, and that the teacher had no intentions of compromising his proper teacher/student role; he still exhibited poor leadership judgement in allowing this trip though.


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Usually I agree with Bob from SLO, a thoughtful and caring participant in our little dramas here in Camelot. But my vote is going with all the students who have posted here and called into the show-this is a non-issue as far as the teacher is concerned. And of course the whole thing is because the target area was Pirate’s Cove, a known hot bed of crime, vicious nudists and dangerous faggots. If they had gone to the Pismo pier we wouldn’t have heard a thing.


So, looks like we have some whining students and parents, NOT a bad teacher. In fact it looks like he is a wonderful teacher, according to the ‘stoonts’, good enough for me.


And though I think this was blown way out of proportion I place no fault with this site. The reporter was informed by supposedly reliable sources of a very questionable situation, and upon trying to verify the info with the school district she was stiffed, just like most of our dear ‘public’ agencies have done to her time and again (and she has always prevailed!). The reporter has stated many times she has been denied public information by petty bureaucrats-I believe her for it has happened to me as well. If the lame brains at the school had just told her the truth, and maybe even suggested she interview the teacher and students this would have gotten the attention it deserves-none.


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Karen, not only did you obviously get it way wrong given the discussion on Congalton this evening but you wrote this article in a way to not only sensationalize it (aka generate web traffic) but also to infer that some sordid actions may have been taking place or could have taken place. Like I said before a big D-. And trying to assign blame for your mistakes in research to others is pretty pathetic. Brett


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This is the first time I am going to say this article from Cal Coast is incomplete and does not give enough information to make an educated assumption of what really went on, follow up article please, the rest of you keep your pants on, I guess until we determine what really went down.


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Okay, seriously, as a former student of AGHS, this article is absolutely ridiculous.

First of all, it is COMPLETELY vague and really isn’t giving the necessary information unbiasedly. And that, my friend, is just a bad journalism tactic.

I know this teacher, I did not take his class, but I had plenty of friends who did and loved it. He’s a good guy, not the creeper this article and many of you are trying to make him out to be. I DOUBT there was any nude sunbathers out there, anyways, it’s wintertime and the weather hasn’t been all too nice, so i doubt the students he took there saw anything “inappropriate”.

Pirate’s cove is a beautiful beach, why not use it as a subject for a photo class?

You all are just getting way too ahead of yourselves in thinking there was anything inappropriate about it. You’re just all too eager to see the absolute worst possible thing in a situation.

Which, is really too bad, considering this sort of article really ruins someone’s life.


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i am a student at AGHS. i am in the photography class. and if KAREN VEILE (or her editor) deletes this comment, it goes to show that she is a biased reporter.


this article makes our teacher sound like a masturbating homosexual that tried to expose only young girls to a nude beach for sick reasons.


1.) AS A CLASS WE DECIDED TO GO TO PIRATES COVE. where as it was a bit of a poor judgement to consent to it, our teacher agreed only if we stayed together as a class in the area ONLY AROUND THE DIRT PARKING LOT WITH THE FIELDS AND CAVES. WE DID NOT GO DOWN TO THE NUDE BEACH!!!!! for people who hadnt been there before was paired up with another who had. our teacher warned us of the nude beach and instructed us not to go down there. AND NO ONE DID.


2.) our teacher DID NOT TAKE JUST FOUR GIRLS BY THEMSELVES. we went AS A CLASS. to go off campus during school hours is idiotic and impossible considering there is an entire class to look after. AND OUR TEACHER IS NOT SOME PEDOPHILE USING PHOTOGRAPHY AS A WAY OF PORNOGRAPHIC EXPOSURE/EXPERIENCE. AS A CLASS we went and car-pooled there. and we had permission. ALL STUDENTS AND THEIR PARENTS SIGNED A WAVER ALLOWING OFF CAMPUS PHOTO SHOOTING. so if anyone is trying to say we didnt have permission from the school or student’s parents, YOU ARE WRONG.


3.) who ever this parent is and her daughter should have brought the discussion and discomfort to the school and ONLY THE SCHOOL. to make a huge scene over some misunderstanding and communication is petty and unprofessional. if the anonymous daughter had discomfort over the matter, she should have said so in class when THE CLASS DECIDED to go there.


4.) i understand if many of you are upset/aggravated with the situation but this article is ALMOST ENTIRELY SPECULATION AND FALSE PRETENSIONS. pinkerton was made aware of the situation and took great care of it. the board has no more concern for it because it has been taken care of. as for all of you commenters insulting mr. fraser and mr. pinkerton, YOU DONT KNOW THE WHOLE TRUTH.


and thats why i have given it too you. i am not some uneducated high schooler with not understanding or morals. i am an honors and AP student with a valid opinion and the truth.


if you want to challenge me, GO AHEAD.


BUT YOU WEREN’T THERE, AND YOU DONT KNOW HALF OF WHAT YOU ARE SPECULATING.


i am here with THE WHOLE STORY.


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Again, who’s running the class? The students who are underaged or the teacher? And if you were there, did you actually see the permission slips? Did they all have the date filled in with pirates cove on place to go that day? How many parents knew that? Did they also know that you “hung” from rocks above the cliffs to “take” pictures? Did they also know that you weren’t in school that hour…did you remind them that you were all going to pirates cove to only go to the parking lots and fields and caves? Which by the way are caves….hum….or is that the teachers’ job to tell them…he is the adult here! Liability can keep getting higher with decisions like this….


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Oh by the way get your facts straight the only reason fraser took them is because they dont have transportation to go anywhere and all our cars were full!


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