Last night the Morongo Unified School District Board of Trustees held their regular 6PM meeting at Joshua Tree Elementary.
The meeting started with presenting a Certificate of Appreciation for the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians for their recent football uniform donation to the Yucca Valley Trojans and the Twentynine Palms Wildcats. These new uniforms are expected to last both teams up to a decade, with helmets equipped with sensors that alert coaches of potentially dangerous impacts.
MTA President Amber Hansen reported that the MTA is endorsing the $88 million bond to pay for upgrades to infrastructure and aging facilities at MUSD schools. Hansen says the bond offers much transparency, including a citizen oversight committee that will monitor how the funds are spent.
Superintendent of Business Services Sharon Flores gave an enrollment update of 4092 MUSD students with 30 pending. The projected enrollment leading up to the current school year was 4120. For secondary programs, total enrollment is at 3154 with 11 pending, leaving a difference of 92 from the projected enrollment of 3257. Flores reminded that enrollment tends to fluctuate in our area particularly due to military families coming and going.
Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Stacy Smalling gave a staffing update. For current certificated staff there are 16 vacancies; for classified staff there are 88 vacancies. When asked why the number of vacancies are so high, Smalling mentioned MUSD “is not seeing the interest in teachers coming to our state that we once had… there seems to be a negative connotation with California when other states are starting to pay better.”
The Board’s open hearing on Textbook Compliance closed with no public comment and was passed 5/0.
