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DES MOINES, Iowa — Hundreds of students, parents and coaches “marched for fairness” Monday to protest the state’s decision to suspend in-person sports and activities at schools holding classes completely online.

“We want to be able to participate just like everybody else in the state. We shouldn’t have to be punished because our school district decided that it was best for the health and safety of our students and our teachers. So we want to be able to participate, just like every other school district,” Tabitha Keith, a Roosevelt senior and volleyball player said. “We’re here to show that we’re serious about this and we’re not just going to be pushed over and pressured by the Department of Education and Kim Reynolds.”

The march started at Roosevelt High School at 10 a.m. Monday morning and finished at Terrace Hill, Governor Kim Reynolds’ mansion. Participants were mainly a part of Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) sports and activities.

“I hope our message rattles [Gov. Reynolds] to the core. I hope our message strikes a chord with her as she realizes that these kids need these activities, that these kids want these activities, and we’re not going to go down without a fight,” North senior and football player Orlando Fuentes said.

DMPS plans to begin the school year on Tuesday with online-only classes for students amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Iowa. The Department of Education warned schools last month that if they can’t hold classes due to COVID-19 transmission then in-person activities would also be disallowed.

“I fully support going virtual because there are 2,200 kids enrolled at Roosevelt, and there’s no way that we can go 51 percent [in-person] and be socially distanced and be safe. That’s why we’re seeing COVID-19 cases across the state popping up from other districts because it’s just not plausible to have kids be in a building, all together so close,” Keith said. “I do think that it is possible for students to have that safe aspect while playing sports, however.”

“It starts at the top. I don’t think they’ve truly stepped down to see what we do to for our practices. I don’t think they realize all the effort and all the accommodations that we made just so we could play our sport,” Fuentes said.

The march is taking place while DMPS waits on a ruling regarding a lawsuit against the state. That ruling could come as soon as Tuesday.

“We actually feel like it’s safer in our sports teams, because we really have a handle on the number of kids. When we practice, all of the precautions are being followed and so we’ve done so successfully since July 6. We believe we can do so going forward as well,” Roosevelt boys cross country coach Sara Schwendinger said.

Back in August, Des Moines Public Schools requested a waiver to move to 100 percent online learning but the state denied that request. Because of this, Des Moines Public Schools is suing the state, saying Reynolds is trying to take over local control.

The state attorney argued that other districts in the Des Moines metro are following state guidelines successfully.

“My senior year, my school life is not a pawn in this political game that is trying to be played,” Keith said. “This is my life. This is what I look forward to, what I work hard for, and I don’t want this to just be thrown away and cast aside and try to be used as a wager,” Keith said.

Students and families were met by a few Iowa State Patrol officers at Terrace Hill. They informed people of the crowd that Gov. Reynolds was not home. Still, students chanted “Let us Play.”

“It makes me sad, because at the end of the day, the kids are the ones that are suffering here in this battle back and forth. They literally just want to participate in activities. They want to do band. They want to do debate. They want to swim. They want to run. They want to play. Yet, they feel caught in the middle between something they did not have any control over. They did not have any control over the decision of their learning model,” Schwendinger said.

Some students and families attending the march were a part of Ames High School as well.

“I don’t think it’s fair with everything going on, these kids are working hard to play their sports, and a lot of people are trying to get scholarships and it’s not fair to the kids who work really hard for these seasons and they get taken away,” Ames senior Caroline Waite said. “We’re taking all the precautions, we’re being safe and it’s not fair to the kids and we just want to play and have fun.”

the Iowa Department of Education approved the Ames district’s request to begin the year on Sept. 8 with 100 percent remote learning. 

Dr. Ann Lebo, the director of the department of education, wrote, “…it is appropriate to start the school year with primarily remote learning.” Last Tuesday, the state’s website that tracks COVID-19 infections, showed Story County with the state’s second-highest two-week positivity rate at 22.6 percent. Johnson County topped the state with a rate of 23.7 percent.

When discussing “Return to Learn” plans and learning at least 50 percent in-person this school year, Gov. Kim Reynolds mentions the importance of social-emotional health of students. Many of the kids protesting Monday said sports play a big role in that.

“At the beginning of this COVID-19 discussion Gov. Reynolds wanted to put an emphasis on students mental health, and that we needed to go in-person. Yet it seems as though she is casting aside the role that extracurriculars play in student’s life. It isn’t just ‘I want to play my senior season.’ Volleyball is something that I’ve worked for the past six years of my life. This means a lot to me. So I think, for her to be quite a hypocrite and not take into account that students mental health could really deteriorate without this, the physical activity or, you know, the controlled social engagement is quite unfair,” Keith said.