The meeting began with the Board recognizing Twentynine Palms High School Valedictorian Amiel Escobal, Salutatorian Vanessa Tran, and Yucca Valley High School Valedictorian Jaden Cadwising, each of them receiving a Certificate of Appreciation.
Next, participants in MUSD’s Aspiring Administrator course joined Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Stacy Smalling and course facilitator Dr. Guttierez to the podium, in which Guttierez stated the course “provided a valuable framework to help participants reflect on and strengthen their own leadership journeys.” A total of eighteen certificated and classified staff members participated in the Aspiring Administrator course, with fifteen honorees attending all sessions where Guttierrez stated they “demonstrated consistent growth, commitment, and enthusiasm throughout the experience.”
Stacy Smalling returned to report on the Sunshine negotiations proposal with Mike Johnson. For negotiations, Smalling and Johnson stated they’d be opening articles for Compensation and Benefits, Hours and Overtime, Vacation and Sick Time, Vacancies, Extra Hours and Assignments, Timelines, and the Duration of the Agreement.
Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Sharon Flores gave an update on Bond Measure C issuances, citing significant savings for taxpayers. Flores said, “Eight million dollars in voter approved bonds will be sold in the bond market and three issuances over the next ten years. The bond rating assigned to the district by BBC came in with a grade A, double AA 3 rating. The first bond issuance of $32 million was sold in the bond market on April 3rd. The projected true interest cost was estimated to be 4.364%. The actual true interest cost at the time of the sale was 4.311, which reduced the cost of the bond repayment for the taxpayers by $436,837. The bond sale closed on April 17th and the funds were deposited in the county treasury, so we do have the first round in the county treasury.”
Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Amy Woods reported that since MUSD applied for the Community Schools Grant, Oasis Elementary School has been awarded 1.4 million dollars to be paid over the course of the next five years.
For action items, the board approved resolutions for May 1 as School Principals Day and May 6 as Day of the Teacher.
During Board comments, Area 1 Trustee Karalee Hargrove announced her resignation in amicable spirit, planning to return to her role as a teacher at La Contenta Middle School. Hargrove said, “Thank you for the fun, it was always a good time. Thank you to the voters who supported me, but for personal reasons I need to be with students––that’s where I make my impact.”
