Parents disagree with decision to close John Adams Elementary School

Many unhappy about the decision to close John Adams Elementary School in La Quinta.

Tuesday night the Desert Sands Unified School District voted 4 to 1 to close the school.

The district said not enough young families can afford to live in La Quinta to support three elementary schools.

“We have done an in depth study on the demographics on La Quinta, the cove area and other locations in La Quinta. We do not see or do not anticipate a surge of growth with families with young children in La Quinta who would support the number of elementary schools that are in existence,” said Mary Perry the Public Information Officer for Desert Sands Unified School District.

But Anthony Ferrer and his family just moved to La Quinta cove and they’re not alone.

He’s pleased with Adams, now he doesn’t know what will happen to his daughter.

“They have really good teachers. I’ve met the principal, they have their head on right there,” Ferrer said.

Mona Davidson with the Desert Sands Teachers Association thinks more young families will move in in the future.

“I really feel like more time should have been given to the parents to work with them and maybe take time to see if things were going to change. We were on the trailing edge of the recession really hitting us and were kind of on the trailing edge of the recovery,” Davidson said.

The district said young families can’t afford to live in La Quinta, but these parents tell a different story.

“I do think it’s affordable, compared to where we came from, yea it’s a lot more affordable,” said Chantel Garcia who lives in the La Quinta Cove.

“Jobs are growing. I mean every time I look around the streets here there’s something going up,” Ferrer said.

While some remain hopeful the district will reconsider — right now John Adams elementary will close at the end of the school year.