The Morongo Unified School District had plenty to talk about during last night’s nearly four-hour Board meeting, including $600,000 in new district grants. Superintendent Tom Baumgarten announced the district’s initial approval for a $500,000 grant from the Department of Defense to be used for military-connected students at Twentynine Palms High and Junior High Schools; as well as a $100,000 grant from the California Department of Education for student-behavior analysis at Palm Vista Elementary school and Twentynine Palms Junior High School. Reporter Andrew Dieleman has the details on the rest of the meeting…
The MUSD Board of Trustees also recognized 10 students from throughout the district in honor of National Disabilities Awareness Month; held a public hearing on the District’s textbook compliance for the 2019-2020 academic year; and declared the week of October 23-31 as drug-free Red Ribbon week. Lastly, the Board addressed a Brown Act violation claim submitted by fellow Trustee Karalee Hargrove from the Board’s September 24 meeting. After painstaking review of analysis from legal counsel, the board declined any “Cure and Correct” action, stating no Brown Act violation took place.
National Disabilities Awareness Month award recipients:
- Jonathan Redmond – Friendly Hills Elementary School
- Byanca Powell – Joshua Tree Elementary School
- Athen Toledo Jaimes – Landers Elementary School
- Wyatt Vaugh – Morongo Valley Elementary School
- Jacob Manison – Onaga Elementary School
- Nolan Buck – Yucca Mesa Elementary School
- Orlando Languas – Yucca Valley Elementary School
- Mirage Zavits – La Contenta Elementary School
- Jonah Dunstan – Yucca Valley High School
- Franklin Fort – Black Rock High School
The board went into lengthy discussions on the District’s dual-enrollment agreement with Copper Mountain College after representatives from the Morongo Teachers Association identified possible issues with the agreement’s labor contract. The Board ultimately approved the partnership agreement with CMC under the condition that new labor negotiations with MTA would take place at a later date. The board also held a work study session to perform the Trustee’s annual review of the Brown Act and reviewed California Senate Bill 419, which will make it illegal in California for both public and charter schools to issue ‘willful defiance’ suspensions to students in fourth through eighth grades. The Board discussed the Bill at length and began planning to ensure District compliance before the Bill becomes law on July 1, 2020.
