Last night, The Morongo Unified School District Board of Trustees held their first regular meeting of the 2023-24 school year at Joshua Tree Elementary.
The meeting began with a moment of silence for MUSD Culinary Arts teacher Travis Royer, who passed away in early August.
Assistant Superintendent Amy Woods announced 15 out of the 16 MUSD schools will be recognized at the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Recognition Ceremony for San Bernardino County. Woods then gave a slide presentation on MUSD Elementary School’s accomplishments through their partnership with Groundworks Arts.
Morongo Teachers Association President Amber Hanson gave an update on bargaining progress, citing improvements with class size but not salary and compensation. Hanson spoke at length of the ongoing inequity of MUSD’s large budget and the low, uncompetitive wages for its teachers. Hanson stated MUSD’s reserve at “almost $59,000,000” and said, “That’s great, we all understand saving for a rainy day… but its raining. We need you let go of some of those dollars, put them on schedule, and compensate us.” Hanson reminded the board of the MTA’s struggle to recruit and retain teachers, and how local teachers continue to sacrifice long commutes to search elsewhere for work.
During public comment, Hanson was backed by teachers from Onaga, Condor, and Friendly Hills Elementary who passionately expressed further frustration, cheered on by blistering applause by the standing room only crowd of MTA members and their families.
One first grade teacher claimed Onaga Elementary is so short staffed that faculty must often skip their lunch breaks. Wrapping Board comments, MUSD Board President Kathy Nelson stunned the room to silence when she announced her resignation, anticipating her last day to be September 30th. While mentioning she’d be moving out of state, Nelson hit the gavel before any further discussion.
