California H.S. Cheer Coach Fired Apparently for Posing for Playboy

April 23, 2009 — -- Carlie Beck does not know why she was fired from her job as a high school cheerleading coach, but she has a sneaking suspicion it's because some parents do not like that she is also known as Carlie Christine, a Playboy model.

Beck posed nude for Playboy.com in October as one of the adult site's "Cyber Girls of the Week." Before the pictures went online, she was offered a coaching job in December at Casa Roble High School in Orangevale, Calif., the school where she was a cheerleader growing up.

A few weeks after the 20-year-old's nude photos splashed across Playboy's Web site in February, Beck was called into the school's principal's office to discuss them, but she said the principal "didn't have a problem with it" at the time as long as she didn't advertise it in front of the cheerleaders.

Last week, however, San Juan Unified School District unceremoniously fired Beck just days after the disgruntled parents of a would-be cheerleader printed out some of the Playboy pictures and brought them to a meeting with the principal, Beck said. The parents' child had not been allowed to try out for the cheerleading squad due to school absences.

"I didn't know I was fired until I was sitting at home and started getting texts. The media was at the school wanting to know how I felt about getting fired," Beck told "Good Morning America." "Later, someone from the school district called and said, 'You've been fired. Your services are no longer needed.'"

Beck said the school district never told her why she was fired, but "there is a strong correlation with the timing of when the parents brought the pictures in and when I was released."

Beck said she talked to the principal again the day after she was fired. During that discussion, Beck said, the principal apologized for not telling her she was being fired first but "didn't go into any details" about why it was done.

Trent Allen, a spokesman for the school district, told "GMA" in a statement he could not supply more information because "it is a personnel issue."

Now the community is up in arms on both sides of the issue.

Parents and Kids React to Nude Cheerleading Coach

The whistle-blowing parents, Scott and Heather Geniella, said on NBC's "Today Show" that they approached the school administrators about the pictures for moral reasons that had nothing to do with their daughter, 14-year-old Adelle, being snubbed from the squad.

"This is a leader of young women," Scott Geniella said. "They want to hold the children to a very high standard. These cheerleaders are not allowed to have racy pictures on MySpace. There's a lot of things they're not able to do, or shouldn't."

"[Adelle] said, 'Mom, there are rumors that she has been on the Internet naked,'" Heather Geniella said. "So she was upset at the double standard, that [Beck] is good enough to be in a leadership position."

But some parents question the Geniellas' motives.

"Jealousy issues or whatever between parents and other students and stuff like that with Carlie, herself, brought this all on," parent Richard Spradling told ABC News' Sacramento affiliate KXTV.

The existence of the pictures and Beck's firing came as a surprise to many of the cheerleaders and their parents who spoke in favor of Beck, according to a report by KXTV.

"It's kind of shocking because I had no idea that she would do something like that," cheer parent Susan Calhoon told KXTV. "She did a good job with the girls. I never heard anyone complain."

Regardless of the pictures, many stood behind Beck, and said she was treated unfairly.

"I think that it shouldn't have anything to do with the school or anything. It was her personal life and it shouldn't have to be brought [up] for her career," said Casa Roble senior Rachael Powell.

Beck said she took the firing hard.

"I really learned to love these girls as well as their parents," she said. "And I definitely appreciate all of the support that I have been shown."

Beck said that the cheerleading position was not her only source of income, citing her modeling "on the side" and "real" work as a licensed esthetition, but it was a "significant" loss.

Making up for the loss could be a brand new Playboy shoot Beck recently wrapped for her next appearance on the Web site, where she will be upgraded to "Cyber Girl of the Month" for June.