Landers Elementary to remain open as the district and community look to keep enrollment numbers up

The Morongo Unified School District has stepped back from a proposal that could have closed Landers Elementary School and consolidated its students with Yucca Mesa Elementary.

At the September 22 community meeting, Superintendent Dr. Patricio Vargas told parents, teachers, and residents that the district had heard their concerns.

“We know students are learning at this point. We know students are thriving at Landers, and we want to continue that. So we, the district, would like to recommend to the board not to proceed with the consolidation of Landers,.” Vargas said.

Board members responded with support. One board member summarized the discussion, saying there was consensus not to vote at this time to close any of the four schools under consideration.

But keeping Landers open comes with a condition.

Landers currently has 107 students. Vargas said the issue is not a specific enrollment number, but whether enrollment remains high enough for teachers to continue teaching no more than two grade levels in combined classrooms.

“If we have to combine classes with three grade levels, that’s when  the district will have to make a decision that will change what we are doing right now.” 

Much of Tuesday’s discussion then turned from preventing a closure to finding ways to strengthen Landers and increase enrollment.

Community members suggested greater outreach to homeschooling families, expanding the district’s virtual and hybrid programs, more community-based promotion, possibly expanding Landers to a 

K-through-eight campus, and continued work on school boundaries.

One proposal in particular was for a community advisory group that could bring parents, residents, and district officials together to work on enrollment and other challenges facing the schools.

Yucca Mesa parent Sarah Smith said the months-long school closure discussion had already mobilized people who want to help.

“There’s a lot of energy right now, and there’s a lot of mobilized parents who really want to help…. If we had some community advisory groups, you come to us saying we want to implement this or we want to get the word out about our Home School program or whatever it is and we can utilize the energy and the talent of these people who really want to help.”

Vargas welcomed the idea and said the district plans additional meetings with community members. He said, “We’re going to brainstorm. We’re going to take the ideas from the community members, and we’re going to move forward together.”

The district will also continue looking for savings and monitoring enrollment, staffing, and expenses. Boundary changes already under discussion will continue, and district officials said a possible K-through-eight school on the west side of the district remains under consideration.

For Landers, Tuesday night marked a significant change from a meeting two weeks earlier, when families packed the school to argue against its possible closure.

This time, the discussion ended not with plans for consolidation, but with the district asking the community to help keep the school viable.

The message from the meeting was clear: keeping the school open would require a community effort.