It was a quiet night for the Morongo Unified School District Board of Trustees when they met for their regular meeting. Last night (January 25), the board was pleased to see a small crowd of community members all wearing their masks so that they could continue in open session. Following no public input on changes to trustee area boundaries, the board voted unanimously to accept the new boundaries, which were required by law to be updated after the 2020 census results were in. During public comment, parents and community members voiced concern regarding the district’s COVID mitigation protocols, the inclusion of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in curriculum, and its relationship to social-emotional learning (SEL), and threatened a recall. Following public comment, the board approved all action items which included rejecting all bids for the Twentynine Palms High School Stadium Improvements project because the project was over budget.
In October of 2021, the Board President at the time, Hilary Slotta, along with interim Superintendent Doug Weller spoke on the record regarding the mask mandates and explained that school districts do not have the authority to opt-out of enforcing the mask requirement, and any district which violates the requirement would face legal and financial liability.
Furthermore, district officials appeared on an episode of the Z107.7 Up Close Show on May 21, 2021, and explicitly said that Critical Race Theory is not part of the district’s curriculum. That episode can be found at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/z107-7-fm-up-close-show-with-gary-daigneault-may-21-2021/id386367587?i=1000522685220
You can find more information, including an interactive map of trustee areas, on the district website at: <http://www.morongousd.com/TrusteeAreas.aspx>.
Following last meeting’s adjournment to closed session for failure to follow mask mandates, the board also reminded the public that the January 11 meeting was adjourned in accordance with Board Bylaw 9823 and Government Code § 54957.9, which permit Board representatives to continue meeting while a member of the press is present.
