A standing-room-only crowd showed up that Morongo Unified School District Board of Education meeting, mostly to be heard on issues of passionate interest–classroom crowding and AB1266. Dan Stork says there were scheduled items too…
The bulk of the large audience at the MUSD meeting were parents and teachers from Condor Elementary School, protesting that none of the eight new teachers recently hired were assigned to their school, which purportedly has the highest average class sizes in the District. A parade of speakers voiced safety concerns about small rooms, and described the difficulties of bearing the instructional burden of 32 kindergarteners at one time.
Pro and con passion was displayed in public comment – again – on AB 1266, which requires “that a pupil be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity.” A current high school student spoke in favor of the bill, while several parents and grandparents opposed it on grounds of modesty, privacy, or Biblical law. Board member Ed Will quoted from a San Jose newspaper article, which characterized several arguments against the bill as myths that can be refuted.
In scheduled business, eight students were recognized for their achievements and positive attitudes, as part of National Disabilities Awareness Month. They were:
Adrian Acevedo, Condor Elementary
Jacob Draper, Friendly Hills Elementary
David Bureman, Joshua Tree Elementary
Deavante Bogan, Palm Vista Elementary
Angel Rodriguez, Yucca Valley Elementary
Rebecca Phipps, Black Rock High School
Nahjeyel Reid Hardin, Twentnine Palms Junior High School, and
Chaquantae Williams, Twentynine Palms High School.
Assistant Superintendent Tom Baumgarten presented a data-rich overview of the District’s laudable record on Academic Performance Index (API), Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), and Program Improvement. Three high-performing schools had been picked to celebrate their achievements by each shaving one-third of Baumgarten’s head, the results of which were gleamingly on display.
The action items–which consisted of an infrastructure completion notice, a sufficiency-of-textbooks finding, and a funding application–were dispatched quickly.
SCHOOL BOARD HEARS COMPLAINTS OF CLASSROOM CROWDING
