DSUSD parents and students rally for in-person learning 4 days per week

A group of Desert Sands Unified parents and students rallied Friday night urging the district to revisit the proposal to bring all students back to campus four days per week instead of two for the last month of school.

More than 50 people, both parents and students, brought signs and chanted on the corner of Highway 111 and Dune Palms in La Quinta.

"I'm hoping we can just get back in school fully, like how it was before," said Daniel Carter, a Palm Desert High School junior.

"They deserve to be in school with their teachers, where they learn best and we are seeing the consequences of zoom school," said parent Athena Martinez O'Grady. "It is having a massive and tremendous impact on mental health and they deserve to be in school."

The DSUSD board earlier this week voted to allow only high school seniors to return four days per week. But younger students at the rally said distance learning is taking a toll on them too.

"I feel very sad and depressed when I'm at home and not at school," said Mason Miller, a 5th grader at Lincoln Elementary.

A representative from the Desert Sands Teachers' Association said at this week's meeting that like many people, teachers are exhausted of changing their plans, saying it would be too difficult to get both of their cohorts back into the classroom.

"They are exhausted; they've done the impossible; they've had to change so many times for a short amount of time left in the school year," said teachers' association president Trina Gonzales.

"My hope is that the board does the right thing, that they allow the cohorts to combine for four days of in-person instruction," Martinez O'Grady said.

Those interested can provide public comment in advance of the board meeting at this link.