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Just last week, parents went to court and filed a writ demanding that the District respect their right to petition and their children’s right to a quality education. These aren’t just the legal rights but they are outlined in the federal Constitution and the California Constitution and the foundation of our rights.

This lawsuit is demanding that the district verify the parents clear majority by verifying the signatures denied just because the District didn’t have a signature on file. If that’s not enough, parents are asking that the District discount the “rescission” documents fraught with forgery and run under an unethical “rescission” campaign in which school leaders were seen advocating for parents to sign “rescission” documents. Even then, after the February 21 Board decision to deny the petitions even after parents went forward to the district superintendent to confirm they were over 50% which he did, only later to recommend that the Board deny the parents’ resubmission.

Each of these reasons alone would confirm that the parents have always been over 50%. The parents are fully confident in the 20-30 minute meetings they had with every petition signer. Parents know full well that they are over 50% but unfortunately, it will take a judge’s ruling to make the District recognize the countless hours parents spent organizing their peers and collecting petitions to make Desert Trails a great school.

Next week, parents are expecting the District to announce the results of its teacher-led Program Improvement Planning team. While this team would never exist in the first place without 70% of parents organizing, for DTPU parents, it is simply too little too late. With only one parent representative on the committee and with little to no direction as to what will change, parents are willing to use the full force of the law to ensure that their kids get a great education because kids get older every year and parents only get one chance to give their kids the education they need for the future they deserve.