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Teachers and parents urge board to protect Desert Learning Academy and address staff complaints
Summary
Teachers, parents and students urged the Palm Springs Unified School District board to preserve Desert Learning Academy and to address staff complaints about local school leadership, alleged protocol failures, and retaliation. Several speakers asked the board to use restorative practices and ensure investigations produce results.
Martha Hunter, a teacher with 15½ years in Palm Springs Unified, told the board she reported a workplace incident involving a now-retired employee and received no resolution, saying restorative justice practices she requested were not used and asking the board to “stand behind your teachers.”
Carrie Clayel, a Cathedral City High School teacher who said she will resign June 30 after a decade with the district, alleged a pattern of dishonesty by site administration around course assignments for students with disabilities and described a culture that she said discouraged staff from raising concerns. “When a teacher raises her hand and says something is wrong, do not make her fight to be heard,” Clayel said.
Several speakers also urged the board to protect Desert Learning Academy (DA), a district program attendees said serves students with high‑needs, medical and mental‑health challenges, transportation barriers, and those who benefit from hybrid or alternative settings. Yana Robles, a DA math teacher, cited the district’s Panorama data showing DA students report higher safety and connectedness than the district average and warned that restructuring or closing DA would leave vulnerable students without a clear placement.
Parent Margene Warz urged the board to keep DA in place, saying families would consider leaving the district if the program were eliminated. Art teacher Ashley Bray and other DA staff described unique curricular and community supports at the campus, and student speakers from James Workman Middle School asked the board to restore an eighth‑grade promotion ceremony.
Superintendent Marcus Funest responded during public comment that there are currently no plans to close Desert Learning Academy or to eliminate independent study; he said the district would provide more information as discussions continue.
The remarks came during the public‑comment period of the June 9 board meeting, which also featured employee and student recognitions, budget and LCAP presentations, and routine votes. The board did not take an immediate policy vote on the DA program during the meeting; speakers requested that any future proposals explicitly safeguard placements and services for the students who rely on DA.
