**Signs at Monday’s demonstration outside Downey Unified offices. Photo by Sabrina Picou**

Editor’s note: this article was edited to remove a protestor’s name at their request.

DOWNEY — On Monday, at 1 p.m. roughly 50 people gathered in front of the Downey Unified School District headquarters demanding reform on current policies within the school district.

The crowd wore face masks and practiced social distancing while organizers provided free water and snacks for those in attendance. Many held signs with phrases written on them that stated, “Take responsibility for your staff DUSD” and “Side with the victim, change the system.”

The movement began on Twitter when DUSD alumni and students began posting their experiences of sexual assault, harassment and racial injustice within the district.

Protestors asked to not be identified by their full names or remain anonymous due to the sensitive issues involved.

“This gathering is not just about sexual assault, it’s also in regards to the racism, the microaggressions, the curriculum has got to go,” they said. “We pay so much respect and we thank the survivors for coming forward with their stories because they’re the reason this was created, they inspired us. So we thank y'all for your strength and for even showing up and even for the people who haven’t told their story yet, you’re still valid even if you never tell your story.”

Demonstrators began by mentioning the city’s budget and that the city of Downey approved a $2.3 million increase for the police budget.

“That’s $2.3 million that could have gone to sexual assault counselors, but again it went to the people that terrorized us,” they said.

Demonstrators called out the members of the Downey city council who voted for the police budget increase.

“Their names are Blanca Pacheco, Sean Ashton, Rick Rodriguez, Claudia Fromata, and Alex Saab. They need to be voted out, the election season is coming up in November and we need to vote them out,” they said.

Demonstrators also had a four-page list of demands, some of which included: no police officers on Downey schools without police reform; a more inclusive curriculum that includes Black and Indigenous people of color; as well as more inclusive sex education that includes LGBTQ sex education and teaching students about consent.

A Warren High School alumni who asked to remain anonymous helped organize the event along with a group of other people.

“Earlier this week many women/femmes that I graduated with came forward with their sexual assault and harassment stories,” the person said. “Many alumni and current students came forward with their racist and prejudiced remarks made to them during their time as students within DUSD. A group of organizers and I have decided to take action.”

The anonymous Warren High graduate mentioned that many of their peers took the proper steps in reporting these incidents, however, in many cases their teachers and administration were not supportive. In some instances, the school relocated students to other schools while their alleged abusers were still kept on campus.

Giovanni, a 20-year-old former Warren High student, expressed that he was sexually harassed by one of his instructors when he was in the marching band. He was 17 at the time of the alleged incident.

“He had sent me X-rated pictures and messages but when I had taken them to the attention of the band director, David Niemeyer, he did report it to the office but when people asked him what had happened to me, he antagonized me,” Giovanni said. “People accused me of being a liar because he accused me of raising false accusations against the instructor who had sent me sexual messages.

“When I came to the district here in Downey, they kind of swept that under the rug, they decided that it was best for me to get an administrative transfer but they never did anything. The band director still works there.

“We’re so scared of speaking out and we’re barely starting to speak out two years later and I also want to mention that I saw on social media that a lot of the band boosters, which are the parents of the band people, are calling out students’ parents telling them to punish their students if they catch them supporting any of the victims on social media,” he added. “Which I think is dangerous because it could silent potential new victims’ voices.”

**Names of trans people who have lost their lives to violence. Photo by Sabrina Picou**

Giovanni had a scheduled meeting on June 29 with someone in the district, however, he chose to not attend the meeting because he felt it was more important to show up to the protest.

Another former member of the Warren High School color guard, Jordan, 20, said he also experienced issues with the band director. In 2017 , she was experiencing mental health issues, forcing her to leave the color guard.

“I was being hospitalized… and he told me, ‘You’re letting your program down, all of your peers you’re letting them down, you’re ruining the show,’ stuff like that,” Jordan said “When I told him I was going to a hospital, he told me like, ‘Well when you come back are you going to be here in time for shows?’ and I was like this program is what’s hurting my mental health. I have to leave because it was a really toxic program.”

Jordan alleged that Niemeyer was often inappropriate in his speech towards students.

“I remember one time we were at practice and he yelled out to the flute section, ‘Daddy’s gonna spank you’ because they weren’t doing their work right. And he said that to the whole practice over the microphone in front of everyone,” Jordan said. “We would be at Christmas parties and he would beg girls to sit on his lap to take pictures with him.”

Jordan said she is hoping for reform from DUSD, specifically, that girls in marching band can obtain more protection from district. Jordan said that oftentimes at competitions girls would have to change out of their uniforms in an open bus with no coverage.

Organizers of Monday’s demonstration created a Google document titled “DUSD Call to Action” that includes a statement on their goals. It states that the purpose of the document is for anyone to express any inputs they may have on their efforts and changes that need to be made within the Downey unified school district.

On Monday at 12:11 P.M., Downey Unified tweeted they will be hosting an “HRC Digital Townhall Series” in order to “actively listen student voice regarding issues related to safety, discrimination, accountability, and systemic racism.”

Students demand end to sexual harassment at Downey schools