MUSD Enrollment Committee recommends “no school closures” after 5 months of meetings
The Morongo Unified School District’s Enrollment Committee made an abrupt about-face when it came to recommending the consolidation (and closure) of at least one hi-desert elementary school.
Last night’s Morongo Unified School District (MUSD) enrollment meeting was supposed to address one thing on the agenda: recommendations from the committee to the board on what they should do with surplus properties within the district.
That item was a hold over from the April 29 meeting which led with public comments from parents, students, teachers, MUSD faculty members, Twentynine Palms City Councilmembers and other hi-desert residents who showed up to speak up for over two hours on the possible closure of elementary schools in their area. Many of the comments became emotional with impassioned pleas for the committee to strongly reconsider recommending any closures at all.
April 29’s meeting was adjourned before the agenda could be completed, possibly due to the amount of time the public comments took up at the beginning of the meeting along with a very vocal and passionate crowd that would frequently interrupt the committee when discussing agenda topics.
That previous behavior was addressed by committee member Jeff Brady, who made the motion to extend public comments beyond the twenty minute limit with a plea, asking the crowd “please, when it comes down to when we’re going to make the decisions, the side talk has to stop. The disrespectfulness has to stop. I implore you.”
Public comments ask for committee to recommend alternatives
The room was once again full with many attendees holding signs and standing in the back, however there were less outbursts from the more subdued crowd.
First to speak was longtime Landers resident and business owner Chris Gubler, who told the committee he was one of the residents who originally lobbied for Landers Elementary School — home of the Coyotes — and that he believes that schools are “the cornerstone of every community.”
That sentiment would carry through many of the comments last night, such as proud Landroid Cordelia Reynolds who said she didn’t want to see any of the schools close, but losing Landers Elementary would be particularly painful for the small rural community.
“We must recognize that saving Landers Elementary is more than just saving a school, it is about saving the heart of Landers itself. I implore each of you to not rush this process, but to deeply understand what your recommendation means to my daughter. She’s not a statistic. She’s not a number on a page. She’s a kid from Landers and she wants to go to school in Landers,” she told the committee while holding her young daughter.
Folks spoke up for Palm Vista Elementary as well, like former substitute teacher Heather Drake. She said that of all the schools where she subbed, that Palm Vista was special. She praised the staff and teachers and said that the students feel like they are at home there. She asked the committee not to disrupt that balance.
Palm Vista Dean of Students Elizabeth Rodriguez says she has been at every enrollment meeting since the first one in January, and she commended the Enrollment Committee for taking on what she called “an impossible task” given the amount of time they had to receive and review information that is vital in making an informed recommendation.
For others during public comment, it all came down to economics. Kaylee Neiman reminded the committee that while enrollment is down right now, “that each student adds $10,000 to the general fund annually. If the MUSD enrolls just 100 more students, that’s $1 million more. We appreciate that you’ve taken Friendly Hills and Morongo (Elementary) off the table, but the MUSD has the money to keep Palm Vista and Landers open too.”
That focus on increasing student enrollment came up in other public comments as well, like Carolyn Riggs who says that the act of closing schools should only be seen as a method of last resort when all other forms of cost savings are explored.
“Just a reminder, our district is not in financial distress and far from crisis. We have a lot of time to solve these anticipated drops in enrollment,” she told the room.
As public comments closed the packed room stayed relatively quiet as the Enrollment Committee took on the task of reviewing the draft recommendation that they are expected to deliver to the MUSD board. There was some initial discussion on word choice and clarification of some of the language used. It was clear that the committee wanted the Board to “exhaust” the recent budget stabilization methods before considering consolidation, and that there needs to be more exploration into advocacy at the state level for low-enrollment rural districts like the MUSD. Other committee members agreed that enrollment needs to be the focus, it’s literally right in their name, after all.
It was widely-anticipated that the committee would move forward with the three recommendations that were decided in the previous meeting: close no schools, close Landers Elementary or close Palm Vista Elementary. Each scenario assumed that Joshua Tree Elementary would be expanded to K – 8, and all district borders would be reworked for better balancing.
However, committee members began walking back the idea that they had to recommend closure as an option at all. Wayne Hamilton floated the idea of recommending no closures to applause and cheers. That’s when committee chair Jennifer Cusack laid the groundwork for the rest of the recommendations, saying “I think given the report in May, it’s really hard to recommend closing new schools. I know that enrollment is super low, but we as a community have to do better to try and encourage families that want to live here.”
Committee member Wayne Hamilton made sure the idea stuck with the room, saying “maybe we should table this and our board can reconvene and start working on enrollment.” The room went wild in response and a wave of relief seemed to wash over the room.
The rest of the meeting moved quickly after that, with school consolidation recommendations being replaced with a recommendation to pursue state funding and figure out how to increase enrollment which would also increase revenue. With the dissolution of school closure recommendations, the task on the meeting agenda of looking at surplus properties was also struck. The Enrollment Committee agreed to finish the new draft in the next few weeks in preparation for the June 9th presentation to the MUSD board.
As the meeting adjourned, the process that began five months ago with the first Enrollment Committee meeting was considered complete. No further Enrollment Committee meetings are scheduled and a revised copy of the committee’s recommendations will be included with the June 9th board meeting agenda.
