Last night the Morongo Unified School District Board of Trustees held their regular meeting at Joshua Tree Elementary.
The meeting began with the board honoring Miss Yucca Valley Audrey Brady with her court: First Princess Kacey Smith, Second Princess Alisa Ramos, and Third Princess Sylvia Gonzalez, who led attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Amy Woods gave a recap of last month’s Flying Doctors free community clinic event at Yucca Valley High School March 8 and 9, where the district’s own CTE medical, dental, and pharmacy technician students assisted volunteer doctors to perform a total of 503 services at the event. Woods reported:
“Twenty-one people were vaccinated. The blood mobile collected eighteen pints of blood which helped fifty-four community members. 160 dental patients were seen with forty-three extractions, fifty-five restorations, 124 cleanings, and 115 x-rays. There were 139 vision patients and 166 patients received prescription glasses.”
Woods went on to thank Flying Doctors Chairman Jeff Grabow for “giving the opportunity to teach not just career technical skills, but also the power of community service.”
Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education Dr. Gracie Gutiérrez gave a presentation on the Dual Language Immersion Program coming to the district in the 2025-26 school year. The program will give assigned students instructions in English and Spanish, citing potential “academic excellence and boost in cognitive skills, enhanced communication skills, global citizenship, and career advantage.” The board discussed the program for a half-hour with Gutiérrez, with various questions including the program’s overall transparency, interest among students, and qualified staff that would have to take the additional Bilingual Licensor Exam. Area 5 Trustee Roberta Myers expressed concerns with its long-term sustainability given “our country’s current administration’s designation that English is our official language,” (as stated by the White House on March 1, 2025), though she remained supportive of the program with the rest of the board.
The board discussed this week’s soft rollout of MUSD’s new cell phone policy where students are expected to keep their phones in their bags during class. Area 1 Trustee Karalee Hargrove commented that “it’s going good, but there needs to be consequences” should students disobey the new policy. Amy Woods confirmed there were indeed consequences, including “confiscation of the student’s device and subject to further discipline such as suspension, expulsion, or transfer to an alternative program.”
