In their last board meeting before a summer recess on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, the Morongo Unified School District Board approved a new three-year contract with the Morongo Teachers Association as well as salary increases for teachers, administrators and superintendents. They also adopted the 2026-2027 draft budget and updated board bylaws. The new Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Dennis Zink, was approved and introduced.

While the issue of potential school closure has been a focal point for parents, teachers, and community members, including at last week’s board meeting on June 9, the board did not address this issue directly. However, the issue still loomed large in the meeting, and during public comment, parents brought up the issue of school closure as it related to the board budget and bylaws.

Potential school closures and the related issue of district fiscal solvency have had an impact on parents’ trust in the board as an institution and were the focus of their public comments. They spoke on multiple issues: Scrutiny of the 2026-2027 budget, concerns about raises for superintendents and the extension of Superintendent Dr. Patricio Vargas’s contract until 2030, and worry that a board by-laws update will consolidate superintendent power and limit the contact of school board members with parents.

The meeting started about 40 minutes late after the board returned from a closed session where they were discussing student and staff suspensions and reinstatements, as well as conferencing with labor negotiators and legal counsel. Compared to other meetings this spring, this meeting was more sparsely attended.

The agenda and recording is available from the MUSD website.

The 2026-27 budget raises parent scrutiny

By law, the district budget must be submitted to San Bernardino County by July 1, where it will be reviewed and approved by September 1. The board voted to approve the 2026-27 preliminary budget draft, but there were several public comments that raised concerns about the actions the district is taking to ensure fiscal solvency and keep schools open.

During public comment, Alexandra Altschuler shared an analysis of the budget that she and a group of parents had conducted. The analysis looked at the District’s comparative budget reports, the 2024–25 Comparative Analysis of District Income and Expenditures (CADIE), and the 2024–25 Salary and Benefits Report (SABRE), which serve as benchmarking for salaries and per-student expenditures across districts of similar size and geography.1 These reports were not available online, but were shared with the Desert Trumpet via email after the meeting.

Musd Cadie Report 2024 25

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Musd Sabre Report2024 25

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The parents also looked at the 2025-2026 second interim report compared to the proposed budget. Ms. Altschuler explained, “Here’s the trend: Revenue up almost 3%, expenditures basically flat, but the deficit still doesn’t close … So, where did the money go?” She called out increases in classified administrative salaries (non-teaching, non-certificated personnel such as administrative staff) and services and operating expenses, and raised concerns that the budget did not go into enough detail as to what those expenses were and why they would increase.

Ms. Altschuler later shared an email she had sent to the board members on May 28 that contained the following analysis:

MUSD’s unrestricted administrative spending ranks first among its eight geographic peers at $1,230 per Average Daily Attendance (ADA), compared with a group average of $836. On a total basis, the District ranks second at $1,520 per ADA versus a peer average of $978. That gap represents approximately $3.5 million in annual administrative spending above what comparable districts carry. The SABRE data shows the Superintendent’s compensation at $292,560 over 245 days, above the enrollment-appropriate range for a district of this size. Snowline USD, serving a comparable enrollment, pays $249,047. Bear Valley USD, a rural isolated district in the same county, pays $216,000.

In a later public comment, Kaylee Nieman also raised the issue that none of the recommendations to help curb expenditures from the School Leaders report were reflected in the budget. School Leaders is the consulting firm the board worked with to develop potential fiscal stabilization strategies. Nieman also asked about the status of Measure C funding2 saying,

The four schools are up for closure had a lot of Measure C expenditures that need to be addressed. Palm Vista needs a PA system, roofing replacement, and special ed play equipment. Landers needs a PA system and they don’t have any shade structure of any kind. Morongo needs a PA system and shade. Friendly Hills also needs a shade structure. So, what’s happening with that money now that closures are off the table?

While the budget passed unanimously, at the end of the meeting board member Bianca Stoker suggested a study session with David Daniels, the Assistant Superintendent for Business, to more clearly understand the budget. Stoker noted, “It seems like the more we dive in, the more questions we have, and so more clarity is always appreciated.” Board President Christopher Claire concurred and acknowledged the board had a lot to discuss, including the suggestions outlined by the school leaders’ report. The board did not set a date for the study session.

Superintendent salaries raise parent questions and concerns

Another budget-related agenda item that raised parent scrutiny was the salary adjustment and contract extension until 2030 for Dr. Patricio Vargas, the district superintendent. The school closure issue, and the trust it strained between the public and the board, was raised in public comment.

Vadim Altschuler asked that the contract either be rejected or tabled until after the November school board election. His comments emphasized the trust that had been broken between the public and district leaders because potential school closures had been pushed as a possibility by the district before the enrollment committee completed. Mr. Altschuler expressed concern about a “sweetened” superintendent’s contract before parents get full answers on the closure process, saying,

This is not just bad timing. It sends a terrible message. It looks like leadership is being protected before schools are protected. It looks like a one-person contract is being secured, while families, staff, and rural communities are still waiting for accountability … If there is a fiscal crisis, the leadership compensation belongs inside that conversation. If the district faces hard choices, then the superintendent’s contract should be not insulated from those hard questions. If public trust matters, then you do not lock the leadership for 2030 right before an election.

The salary adjustments for the superintendent and assistant superintendents passed 3-2, with Claire and board member Missy Bond voting against, and Dr. Vargas’s contract extension passing 4-1, with Claire voting against. The votes drew scattered calls of “shame” from the parents in the audience. In a conversation after the meeting parent board member Roberta Meyers explained that superintendents are in high demand and that the school district needs to do what they can to retain qualified, competent leadership.

Board bylaw update raises question about board member authority and superintendent power

A vote to update the board’s bylaws, specifically Board Policy 9200, which addressed the board’s roles and conduct, drew concern and scrutiny from some parents. They saw the updated bylaw as a concentration of power in the superintendent. The supporting document provided with the agenda shows both the old and updated language, which state that individual board members do not have the authority over the district administration and that all complaints and correspondence must be directed to the superintendent to be placed on an agenda for board discussion. The adopted language was provided to the MUSD by the California School Boards Association (CSBA), who sent the update out to all districts in the state. The bylaw update clarifies,

Additionally, individual Board members do not have the authority to investigate, resolve, or otherwise actively engage with community members with respect to complaints, personnel or student matters, or legal issues. Any Board member who receives a communication regarding such a topic shall forward the communication to or otherwise inform the Superintendent or Board president, as appropriate, who shall respond or otherwise follow-up, as needed.

In public comment Kaylee Neiman expressed concern that the update put up barriers to communication with the board as elected representatives.

I think with the lack of transparency MUSD has given to our community, especially our parents on a whole, we were hoping for more town halls, perhaps a parent task force, perhaps a student representative on the board, like LAUSD has. It seems like this change in the bylaws silences all of the board members and silences us parents.

The MUSD does have student representatives from each area high school, but they serve as advisors as opposed to full voting board members.

Mr. Altshuler raised concerns about the change in bylaws happening before board member elections in November, when three of the five seats will be on the ballot, with terms set to expire in December 2026 in Trustee Areas 1, 4, and 5. He compared the consolidation of power to what he observed living in Russia under Putin, telling the board,

When power is written away from elected representatives aboard one administrative office, people notice we’re not stupid. The board should not reduce its own oversight power before the election. The board should not make the superintendent’s office the gatekeeper of public concerns. The board should not lock in power structures while voters are waiting for their chance to speak.

Perhaps to ease some parents’ concerns, Board member Stoker explained the wording of the bylaw had updated to provide clarity, but the policy was the same,

I think it’s important to know that although the language has changed, the intent has always been there. It talks about our authority in the same way that we aren’t able to resolve complaints on our own and that we don’t personally direct any employees or singularly direct the superintendent. These things have to be done as a board, so I just want to make sure that when people are reading it, that they’re understanding that the overall message is the same.

In a later comment, President Claire clarified further about the role of the board and the superintendent,

You guys are our constituency. We listen to you guys. You can still talk to us. … We just can’t take action to clarify. We have to bring that to Dr. Vargas. He’s our one and only employee, and then he has to take action, and we have to hold him accountable for those actions, so it’s not like we’re losing any sort of authority, but I do appreciate everybody being here.

While the language was standard as directed by the CSBA to all districts and is written to prevent a power grab or corruption by a singular board member, the comments were indicative that the public, especially parents, will continue to hold the board under close scrutiny. Both parties will have to work to rebuild trust, open communication, and fully address the issue of school closure and fiscal stability.

Three-year contract with Morongo Teachers Association passes unanimously

A tentative agreement between the school district and the Morongo Teachers Association passed with all board members voting in favor. The new, three-year contract with the Morongo Teachers Association covers employee rights, working conditions, and grievance, leave, and evolution procedures. In a separate agenda item, the board also approved an updated salary schedule for certificated personnel, which includes salary increase of 4.0% for fiscal year 25-26, 1.66% for 26-27, 3.06% for 27-28.

Welcoming a new Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources

The board also welcomed Dennis Zink as the new assistant superintendent for human resources. Zink served as a special education teacher, assistant principal, and then principal of Palm Spring High School for nearly a decade and also worked in Human Resources in Palm Springs and Desert Sands Unified School District. He will replace current assistant superintendent for HR Stacy Smalling.

The need for transparency, trust, and working together

Overall, parents expressed a need for accountability and transparency around board governance and spending, especially around the steps that will be taken to ensure schools stay open. They also wanted more information about how Measure C bond funds are being spent to improve schools and school infrastructure.

During his board remarks, Claire reminded all assembled about their shared purpose and the importance of discussion. He also spoke to the need for more future discussion about Measure C and how the School Leaders recommendations will and will not be implemented. He reflected on the meeting saying,

This isn’t a circus, this is our public, this is our children. We had a lot of tough votes tonight. We had a split vote on some things, and sometimes that happens. I know a lot of people think, oh, that’s horrible. I don’t think that’s horrible at all. I think we can have this difference of opinion and still move forward and still do great things for our students. We have a lot of great things moving.

The next regular school board meeting will be on August 10, 2026.

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As students, teachers, and school employees across the Morongo Basin celebrate graduations and get ready for the summer ahead, the issue of school closures dominated the June 9 Morongo Unified School District (MUSD) Board meeting. The board has been focused on developing a strategy to address declining enrollment, falling state funding, and rising costs over the past few months. To develop a plan and review options, the board hired consulting firm SchoolWorks and formed a nine-member, volunteer Enrollment Committee to serve in an advisory capacity.

At the 90-minute meeting, Enrollment Committee Vice Chair Karla Buchanan presented the volunteer group’s recommendation to keep schools open, emphasizing that school closure should only ever be a last resort. The committee also recommended additional strategies to balance the budget and strengthen enrollment. Their suggestions included redrawing boundaries to rebalance enrollment across the district and pursuing enrollment recovery, retention, and enhancement, as well as pursuing operational efficiency.

For more background, see our coverage of the May 9 and April 21 meetings. The meeting also covered a summer Transitional Kindergarten program, an upcoming vote on teacher’s contracts, and routine business.

Passionate and well-researched public comments largely focused on the issue of school closure, but also addressed the increased use of combination classrooms, the lack of buses for school field trips, and Extended Learning Opportunities Program.

An agenda and recording is available on the MUSD’s website.

Enrollment Committee’s final report recommends keeping schools open

The report by the Enrollment Committee was the most anticipated part of the meeting. Meeting since January 2026, the advisory Enrollment Committee was tasked with reviewing enrollment trends and evaluating facilities in order to come up with a recommendation to address the potential budget shortfall that could be created by declining student enrollment. A report by the MUSD states that over the past decade, enrollment has fallen from approximately 8,400 students during the 2016/17 school year to around 7,300 today and could fall further still.

The summary and findings of the committee’s final report were presented by committee Vice Chair Karla Buchanan and were the culmination of months of meetings, community conversations, and research. Buchanan acknowledged the diversity of experience of committee members, including parents, district employees, business owners, and community members. The committee held seven public meetings, conducted site visits, and reviewed enrollment and demographic data, facility assessments, financial operational information, consolidation scenarios, and community feedback.

Buchanan explained that the committee considered multiple scenarios, from no school closures to the closures of multiple schools. Ultimately, the committee recommended that school closure should only be considered as a last resort. Buchanan explained,

The committee understood the financial challenges facing the district and took those concerns seriously. However, after extensive discussion, review of the available information, the committee reached consensus that school closures should remain a measured last resort. Members repeatedly expressed concern about the long-term impacts that school closures have on students, family, staff, and community served by those schools. Once the schools close, those impacts can be significant and difficult to reverse.

To address declining enrollment and budget shortfall, the committee recommended that the district pursue all viable strategies before considering closing any schools. They highlighted several strategies including:

• Adjust elementary school boundaries across MUSD to rebalance enrollment and make better use of resources across the district.

• Pursue enrollment recovery and enhancement, including re-engaging families whose children attend private, charter, or faith-based schools or other education alternatives.

• Enhance support and resources for students with behavioral needs that may impact enrollment.

• Expand and invest in the existing independent study program.

• Formalize advocacy for school funding at the state level to better support the needs of students with disabilities and our rural school system.

The committee felt strongly that any decisions the school board makes must take into account not only their impact on the district’s finances, but also students, school communities, and educational equity across the Morongo Basin. The process of coming to a decision matters, explained Buchanan,

For that reason, the committee is requesting that any future actions include clear implementation timelines, transparent communication, ongoing monitoring of student outcomes, careful consideration of equity institutions, and assurances that any receiving schools are fully prepared to support additional students.

Because the Enrollment Committee serves in an advisory role, the decision on next steps and action items rests with the school board. A timeline for a decision was not announced.

Parents, teachers, and community members advocate for Morongo Basin schools, with Landers Elementary and Palm Vista in focus

Teachers, parents, and community members offered public comment on the Enrollment Committee’s recommendation and the issue of potential school closures. Overall, the seven public comments focused on the impact school closures would have on communities that are already underserved and struggling with resources. Together, they reiterated that school closures do not save money overall. While commenters showed up representing Landers and Palm Vista in particular, most made it clear that they supported all schools and students throughout the district and stressed the importance of unity.

Cordelia Reynolds, a resident of Landers and Treasurer for the Landers Community Association, emphasized that the school serves as a hub for the community and provides many services to vulnerable community members. To see it close would be “beyond devastating.” She urged the board to look at the issue holistically, taking into account how many families in communities like Landers moved out when housing prices rose sharply during the pandemic due to an influx of vacation rentals. As the real estate market flatlines, she suggested that families will move back in. She said,

I’d really love for these schools to always remain open, and for us as a community in the Morongo Basin to be dedicated to these schools remaining open. If that means going to state level, then we can go to the state with it, because attendance is not something to use to maintain a school being open when we live in a rural community that’s been devastated by AirBnBs without any regulation.

Mark Farison, a teacher with a 35-year tenure in the school district also came out to represent Landers Elementary School, where he teaches. He praised the board’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and the benefits that approach brought to the district, but reminded them that,

We are not part of a corporation where success is measured by profit margins or bank account balances. We instead provide an incredibly important service to the public, and what matters the most are the families who entrust us with the care and education of their children. Their success and well-being is the ultimate measure of our accomplishment.

He explained that closing schools erodes public trust that the school board is putting children first, especially in communities with highly vulnerable populations like Landers where 91% of the families are socioeconomically disadvantaged and the school services as a “lifeline” for services and a social hub. In the 2024/2025 school year, 145 out of 168 students at Landers Elementary were considered socioeconomically disadvantaged according to data available on EdData.

Farison also questioned the economic argument of school closure saying “The numbers simply do not justify the harm that would come to the families and children, nor the disruption of their education.”

Abby Farison, a graduate of Yucca Valley High School and a political scientist with a master’s from UCLA, dove deeper into the impact of school closer from an academic perspective. She cited a number of peer-reviewed studies that showed that school closures negatively impacted education outcomes, graduation rates, enrollment, and attendance.

Her final citation was a recent study released in May 2026 by Francis Pearman from Stanford University who studied public school closures across California from 2011 and 2019. Pearman found that school closures on average had no impact on financial conditions. Ms. Farison summarized the study and how it applies to the MUSD saying, “I think that that shows that all of those schools, all those districts, I’m sure had similar projections where they expected to save money, but the math and the statistics and studies show that in the end it does not save much.”

While overall each speaker stressed the importance of unity and coming together to address challenges throughout the district, whether aging facilities, crowded classrooms, or the need for expanded enrichment programs, tensions within the district were also evident. James Osler spoke against what he viewed as systemic racism by the board by targeting Palm Vista Elementary in Twentynine Palms for closure while schools like Friendly Hills, which has more white students, will remain open. A review of demographic data of Palm Vista and Friendly Hills showed that in the 2024/2025 school year 64% of Palm Vista students identified as Black, Hispanic or Latino, Asian or Pacific Islander or two or more races, compared to 43% of Friendly Hills students who identified as Hispanic or Latino or two or more races.

Despite tensions, the message of of working together to find a solution and fight for quality schools prevailed. In her comment, Carolyn Riggs reflected on the process saying, “We learned of all these different ways to shore up the budget, and not one of these included closing any of the schools that were proposed. Most importantly, we were reminded of how dedicated the families of Morongo Basin are to students.” In closing she led the crowd in a short song to the tune of Aud Lang Syne,

From Landers to Morongo El, Palm Vista, Friendly Hill, All students there deserve our care and fight for all we will!

While the steps around potential school closure will be decided by the school board, given the energy and effort community members have put in so far to organize, it’s clear they will continue to show up.

Upcoming vote on a new contract and the importance of protecting schools

Amber Hanson, the certificated representative (who represents certificated educators and education professionals) from the Morongo Teachers Association, reminded the board about their upcoming vote on a new teachers contract. The vote will take place at the next meeting on June 16. She spoke to the two years of work that went into putting the contract together, including the bargaining process, 20 on-site meetings, 158 one-on-one meetings with members, and a “famous” survey that took 45 minutes to fill out with an 80% response rate. Hanson explained the contract is powerful because it offers teachers compensation higher than surrounding areas and it emphasizes solving conflict through collaboration and bringing teachers into decision making processes.

Hanson also addressed the Enrollment Committee and the board’s pending decision around school closure. She emphasized the importance of unity across the district and the role of schools, the school board, parents, and community members in coming together and putting in the work to increase enrollment, ensure students get the services and support they need, and help students struggling with school and other needs,

We have to be in this together, if we want schools to stay open, and we want them to be good … Community exists. You have to have conflict, but how we deal with it and what we do to solve it is what’s going to make the difference for our children and their future.

Transitional Kindergarten Boost summer session returns

Dr. Gracie Gutierrez, the Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education, gave an update about the return of TK/Kinder Boost. This week-long program is designed to provide transitional support for young children who will be starting school in August. It focuses on building social skills and identifying needs children may have before school starts. It helps young students learn skills that will enable them acclimate to school, like standing in a line or going to the cafeteria. Dr. Gutierrez explained, “For many of [the children] it is the very first time that they are leaving their parents’ side, and it’s an opportunity for them to interact with adults in a school environment and to begin to familiarize themselves with that school setting.”

The program will be offered the week of June 22 to June 26 at Oasis, Onaga, and Yucca Mesa elementary schools from 8 am to 12 pm. Breakfast and lunch, as well as morning transportation will be provided from the students’ home school. While Dr. Gutierrez mentioned Oasis has already reached its enrollment cap, she emphasized the goal is not to turn anyone away, and they will rebalance staff as necessary. Interested families can fill out this short form.

Open public comment focuses on concerns about false advertising, increasing opportunities for students, and fair workloads for teachers

Non-agendized public comments focused on issues of equity and concern in the district. Ruben Rodriguez raised a concern about the lack of busses for school field trips, an issue he learned about from his wife who is a teacher in Twentynine Palms and had five field trips where busses were unavailable this year, leading to the cancellation of three of the five trips. “Going forward, we really need to find a way that when we create opportunities for our kids to get there,” he said.

Rodriguez also raised an issue related to the school closure conversation to the board’s attention: That consulting firm School Leaders is currently using their work with the MUSD on fiscal stabilization as a case study on their website. Rodriguez cautioned the board of how this may appear to the public,

[The case study] is actually an advertisement for how to bring what happened here to other districts, so after this community having to go through all of that, to see it now used as advertising … I don’t think its a real honest evaluation of what went on here, because this talks about how much trust it built in the community when it had some adverse results.

The School Leaders consultants are not to be confused with SchoolWorks, the consultants hired to work specifically on enrollment projections and demographics that helped inform the Enrollment Committee’s initial research. In casual conversation after the meeting, a parent referred to the School Leaders case study as a “scandal,” pointing out that many of the proposals for fiscal stabilization in the case study were similar to those generated by parents and community members. The parent expressed concern that the consultants had claimed and taken credit for the community’s suggestions.

Terrance Lattimer, the Executive Director of 29 Dines, shared successes of the organization’s “Harvest and Thrive” program, which was supported by the district’s Extended Learning Opportunity Program (ELOP) and thanked the board for their support. He emphasized that participants found that, “Food is a powerful gateway, a powerful doorway to learning and to expanding beyond the campus.”

Jennifer Bouma, a teacher with a 30-year tenure in the district, raised concern about the increased number of combination classes, where students from two grade levels are grouped into one classroom. “The students we serve are not members on a spreadsheet, and teachers are not robots. Decisions about staffing and class placement have a direct impact on the quality of education our students receive and on the well-being of the educators who serve them,” she explained. To alleviate stress on teachers and provide students with a better learning experience, Bouma urged the board to consider alternatives and to let the decisions about staffing and classes be made at the school level by principals who know their school, teachers, and students’ needs.

After the serious issues that the board considered, the meeting ended on a high note. During their comments section, Board members reflected on the joy of attending graduation and promotion ceremonies around the district, celebrated the new kitchen at Twentynine Palms Junior High, and shared the news that Palm Vista had received $66,000 in grants from the Toshiba and Hearst Foundations and the Honda USA Foundation.

The next school board meeting will be held on June 16, 2026 at 6 pm at Joshua Tree Elementary School, 4950 Sunburst Ave, Joshua Tree.

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Dozens of parents, teachers, and community members packed the Morongo Unified School District Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, May 5. Many spoke passionately during public comment, urging MUSD administrators and the Board of Education to slow the school closure process and consider other ways to fix the district’s budget problems. The meeting ran over an hour and covered staff honors, student updates, and routine business. Although none of the Board members spoke about enrollment, the question of which schools might close clearly weighed on every audience member attendee in the room.

The agenda and video recording of the meeting are linked here.

The Closure Question

For months, MUSD has been working with a hired consulting firm, SchoolWorks, Inc., to develop a plan for stabilizing the district’s budget. The district faces declining enrollment, meaning fewer students, and therefore less state funding, while costs keep rising. A volunteer citizen Enrollment Committee1 has been meeting regularly to review options and make recommendations to the board. Those recommendations are expected by the June 9 board meeting.

Falling enrollment is an issue throughout the state of California, not just in the Morongo Basin. The primary causes are more declining birth rates and reduced immigration than families switching to private schools or homeschooling, according to a recent article in EdSource. The tension between fiscal reality and community impact, especially in small, rural towns where a local school is central to community identity—as parents at Tuesday’s meeting testified—is playing out from the Morongo Basin to Mendocino County.

Many community members say the process is being rushed, however, and that school closures are being pushed forward before other solutions have been seriously considered. Several speakers pointed to SchoolWorks’ report,2 which identifies opportunities for more than $4.2 million in annual savings from better purchasing practices, $2.9 million in potential new revenue, and $2.9 million in one-time grant opportunities. That’s more than $10 million in possible savings without closing a single school.

“Closures is not the whole stabilization plan,” said Vadim Altschuler, a Twentynine Palms parent who has spoken at multiple board meetings and who wrote an editorial last month for the Desert Trumpet. He cited the final slide of the consultants’ report directly:

The district is not in crisis. It says MUSD is at an inflection point—that the work ahead is deliberate structural adjustment, not emergency response. So if this is not an emergency, do not use emergency tactics.

Others challenged a figure the district has repeated often: that closing each school saves $500,000 per year. “That number gets repeated and repeated, but it has never been shown—no line-by-line, itemized breakdown,” said one speaker. “If that number is real, it would be easy to show. And if it can’t be shown, it shouldn’t be used.”

Landers Elementary in the Crosshairs

Landers Elementary was the school most discussed Tuesday night by parents in public comment. A letter from the superintendent’s office had named a scenario involving closing Landers and moving its students to Yucca Valley. Multiple speakers came to the school’s defense. About 93% of Landers students are considered socioeconomically disadvantaged; approximately 48% are Hispanic; and around 17% receive special education services.

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Altschuler was direct:

Landers cannot be treated as a quiet option just because fewer working parents can make it to the evening meetings. Closing a remote rural school serving an underserved population would not be responsible fiscal management—it would be administrative convenience dressed up as fiscal necessity.

Gillian Thorpe, a parent of a kindergartner at Landers, described the school as one of the few community anchors in the area—alongside the post office and local lodge. “What may appear as a simple line item in a budget is, in reality, a place with a true heart and soul,” she said. Thorpe also warned that families pushed out of Landers might turn to homeschooling or leave the district entirely—putting even more pressure on neighboring schools.

Palm Vista Parents Speak Out

Palm Vista Elementary drew passionate defenders as well. Teacher Stacy Smith, who has taught there for five years, accused the district of sending its most difficult students—and unwanted staff—to Palm Vista without adequate support, then pointing to the school’s struggles as a rationale reason to close it. “You set up Palm Vista to be the dumping ground,” she told the board. She also called out the high salaries of district administrators, saying:

Our district is top heavy. Why are there no cuts up in your level? What I wrote first was, we feel ignored, and what I decided was that’s not true. You’re ignoring us. We feel dismissed. Nope, you’re dismissing us. We feel discounted. Nope, you’re discounting us. And by your actions, you are proving what is most important to you is your paycheck and your bonus. When you talked about the burden of teacher salaries, what about the burden of your salaries?3

Parent Tina Femke spoke about her son, who has a behavioral diagnosis and had a hard time at his previous school. At Palm Vista, she said, teachers learned his strengths, worked with the family on weekends, and helped turn things around. “He now has goals for the future,” she said, her voice breaking. “Please don’t close his school. You’re not just closing a building—you’re taking away a place where kids feel safe, seen, and supported.”

Calls for Transparency

Several speakers questioned the process itself. Community member Ruben Rodriguez, who had previously argued for delaying closures until after November elections, said he changed his mind after attending the April 29 Enrollment Committee meeting. His concern: that whoever controls which options end up on the list effectively controls the outcome.

One speaker called for disciplinary action against two district consultants, saying,

During the meeting, it became evident that members did not have enough time to review the budget stabilization plan or presentation by SchoolWorks…. Towards the end of the meeting, [the consultant] from SchoolWorks was pressuring the committee to come to a consensus on closures, while withholding all the other cost-saving options that MUSD could pursue.

The Board did not respond to those claims, or any others, during the meeting.

Awards and Regular Business

The Board recognized two district leaders: Assistant Superintendent Dr. Gracie Gutierrez Harris, named Central Office Administrator of the Year by California Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators Region 6, and Superintendent Patricio Vargas, who received the Superintendent of the Year award from the same group. Student representatives from Twentynine Palms High School, Twentynine Palms Palms Junior High, and Lucerne Valley Middle School shared updates on AP exams, sports seasons, and upcoming events. The board unanimously passed resolutions honoring teachers and classified employees. The district’s bargaining team also reported that contract talks with the teachers’ union are going well, with a settlement expected before the school year ends.

What Comes Next

The Enrollment Committee is expected to present its recommendations at the June 9 board meeting. Multiple speakers on Tuesday asked the board to confirm that date is not a hard deadline—and that the community will have a real role in whatever decision is made. Whether the board will pump the brakes or push forward with closure scenarios remains an open question. One thing is clear: the community intends to keep showing up until it gets an answer.

The next MUSD Board of Education meeting is scheduled for June 9, 2026, at 6 pm.

The Board of Education of the Morongo Unified School District (MUSD) held their monthly meeting at Joshua Tree Elementary School on Tuesday, April 21. During the meeting the board received updates on school activities, listened to program updates and awards presentations, and heard public comment. Seven of the eight commentators expressed concerns about a potential plan to close and consolidate up to three elementary schools in the Morongo Basin, citing projected decreasing enrollment numbers.

The potential school closures have rallied parents, educators, and other public education advocates throughout the district. The board meeting was well attended, especially by families and teachers from Palm Vista Elementary in Twentynine Palms, one of the schools potentially slated for closure.

The volunteer MUSD Board of Education consists of five members, President Christopher Claire, Board Clerk Roberta Meyers, and members Pete Wood, Bianca Stoker, and Missy Bond. The district is guide by a six-member executive cabinet, Dr. Patricio Vargas, Superintendent; Amy Woods, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education; Dr. Gracie Gutierrez, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education; David Daniels, Assistant Superintendent Business; Stacy Smalling, Assistant Superintendent Human Resources; and Heidi Burgett, Director of Special Education.

Awards and updates focus on excellence and new opportunities

The public meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance led by the 2026 student court from Yucca Valley High School who participate in local events throughout the year. Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Amy Woods gave a presentation about the Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award, which was granted to both Twentynine Palms and Yucca Valley High Schools. Dual enrollment enables students to take community college classes and simultaneously earn high school and college credits. A particular point of pride, according to Woods, is that out of 31 schools in the state that received the excellence award, only 17 were public high schools. “Dual enrollment is not just an academic pathway,” asserted Woods, “It declares to a student that we see you as college bound, even if no one ever said that before.”

Following Woods, the board heard updates from students at Black Rock and Yucca Valley High Schools, who reported on upcoming proms, fundraising, and graduation activities. According to Julius Fickland, the representative from Black Rock High School, 29 students have already graduated from Black Rock, a continuation high school, which drew applause from the audience.

Board Member Bianca Stoker provided a legislative update and highlighted a trip to Washington, D.C. she and Board President Christopher Claire took to advocate for increased school funding with other school boards and meet with Representative Jay Obernolte. President Claire noted that Obernolte “perked up” at the mention of AI and how to fund the incorporation of AI into the classroom and see that it “isn’t a threat” to students and learning. As an engineer and video game developer with a graduate degree in artificial intelligence, Obernolte has a strong interest in technology and has introduced several bills to supporting robotics and AI development.

Assistant Superintendent Woods discussed Yucca Valley High School’s designation as a Cisco academy. Cisco will provide equipment and curriculum for training and industry-recognized certification in skills like networking and cyber security, which will help students prepare for real world jobs in technology. The program is being tested at Yucca Valley High School before being expanded to Twentynine Palms High School.

Stacy Smalling, Assistant Superintendent Human Resources, provided an update on the Teach Morongo program, which recruits, trains and supports new teachers in the Morongo Basin. The Teach Morongo program recently received $900,000 from the San Bernardino County Superintendents of Schools to support mentoring and coaching for new teachers.

Karla Buchanan, principal of Onaga Elementary School and Vice Chair of the MUSD enrollment committee, provided a brief update on the committee’s activities and their most recent April 9 meeting. She summarized the committee’s activities and purpose for the board,

The committee has been tasked with evaluating the district’s current enrollment trends, particularly at the elementary level, in order to develop recommendations for the board related to declining enrollment, budget impacts, and potential use of any surplus or underutilized properties. As part of this work, the committee conducted site visits to review site conditions and capacity, and held several public meetings where we received financial and enrollment projection data and had opportunities to request additional information to support informed decision making.

She reported that “the committee developed a set of priority criteria to help evaluate sites and guide future recommendations” to address declining enrollment. At their upcoming meeting on April 29 members will review their individual analyses and work toward a consensus on recommended actions. In response, President Claire requested that the committee present the options they would like the board to consider at the June 9 board meeting.

Parents and stakeholders express concern around potential elementary school closing

The public comment period focused on the issue of potential school closures, with seven of the eight public comments bringing up the topic. This January the MUSD formed an enrollment committee and engaged consultants from SchoolWorks, Inc. to address declining enrollment in the district. Their recommendation could result in school closures as a potential cost-saving measure.

A report by the MUSD states that over the past decade, enrollment has fallen from approximately 8,400 students during the 2016/17 school year to around 7,300 today and could fall further still. A recent article in the Hi-Desert Star recapped the enrollment committee’s April 9 meeting, in which Superintendent Patricio Vargas presented different scenarios for school closure, one of which would close Palm Vista Elementary School on Baseline Road in Twentynine Palms as well as Landers and Morongo Valley elementary schools. In the case of closure, students would be reassigned to the closest campuses.

A group of parents calling themselves Morongo Basin Parents for Transparency! has circulated a petition that has garnered over 860 signatures to protect Morongo Basin students from school closures. In an update posted on April 17, the group noted that, “The district reportedly acknowledged that it has no records showing any timeline for the ‘alternative solutions’ work,” and asked if those solutions were being seriously considered at all.

The creators of the petition are pushing for the Board of Education to demonstrate clear budget math, real site-by-site savings, transportation and staffing costs created by each scenario, and the full impact on children, families, and school communities affected, demands that were also reflected during the public comment section.

Comments at the meeting focused on the importance of small community schools, the disruption that students would face if schools closed, the need for greater transparency in the process, and pushing back against some of the justifications offered for school closings, including potential cost savings and construction on a fault line.

Katie Fleishman advocated for Palm Vista Elementary and their specialized programs for high-needs students. A parent of an autistic son, she spoke of her conscious choice for him to attend an Extensive Support Program at the school, where he has flourished, making friends and building skills. “For children with extensive support needs, routine and familiarity are not small things. They are essential,” she said. She asked the board whether there will be intentional placement of students and whether they will receive the same type of structured support and trained staff in other schools, emphasizing

Moving schools for many students may be inconvenient. For students like Evan, it can be deeply disruptive….I urge you to consider the impact this decision will have on students with the highest needs in our district. Their success depends on stability, specialized environments, and the dedicated educators who know them.

Ruben Rodriguez described the parental and community engagement at Palm Vista and outlined how the school serves as a community hub, with an active PTA of over 60 people, hosting events, parenting and literacy classes, student clubs, and a free store that offers clothing and hygiene products. He reminded the board that attendance, not enrollment, drives funding and Palm Vista leads the way in attendance recovery with Saturday programming. He also provided a history lesson that reminded those in attendance of the importance of organizing around educational needs,

Public education in Morongo Basin began 99 years ago in Twentynine Palms when San Bernardino County refused to build a school for the town, citing enrollment concerns, so the townspeople pooled their money together, built a school house, and hired a teacher, offering their children futures. In 1927 it was the people of Twentynine Palms that made it happen, and in 2026 it will again be the people of Twentynine Palms who get the job done.

Finally, he asked that while the board continues to investigate cost savings, they also delay a final decision about school closings until after the November election, when new board members may be elected.1

Chris Grabo, whose wife works at Palm Vista, suggested that instead of closing and consolidating schools, the board should focus on reducing class sizes to lessen the burden on teachers. He argued this would increase attendance by making school more enjoyable for students and teachers, noting. “When you make the classroom smaller and you make it more enjoyable for the kids to be there, the kids are going to want to go to school.”

Anna Tegarden, a data analyst, called the claims that Palm Vista is built on a fault as being “actively false,” and presented a map she created with publicly available data from the State of California showing that the fault line is nearly half a mile away. She also pointed out that another school, Oasis Elementary, which is not slated for closure, is only 68 feet away from a fault.

Stacy Smith, who has taught at Palm Vista for five years and currently teaches in a combined 4th and 5th grade classroom, spoke emotionally about being welcomed into the school as a teacher and the difference she has seen the school make in students’ lives, especially ones struggling with unstable family and living situations. She concluded,

We are too much, but we deserve to be there. Please reconsider. We should not be on the chopping block, and respectfully, none of you should be telling any other school that we’re on the chopping block. That isn’t about community, and that’s not about trust.

Vadim Altschuler, a parent from Twentynine Palms and the author of a letter to the editor published by the Desert Trumpet, questioned the logic behind the school closures and why the board is treating them as inevitable without fully exploring alternatives or being fully fiscally transparent. He made several observations about the district’s finances and financial decisions during public comment and later followed up with more detail for the Desert Trumpet:

• The district reported a core deficit of $7 million in their 2025–26 Second Interim Budget, but about $3 million of that planned deficit spending is tied to textbook adoptions, so the deficit may be closer to $4 million.

• According to the district’s AB 1200 disclosure, management received a one-time $580,000 bonus in the 2024/25 school year when the district was only about $17,000 above the state minimum reserve.2

Altschuler provided the Desert Trumpet with copies of the 2025–26 Second Interim Budget, the 2024-2025 unaudited actuals, and the AB 1200 form to confirm these numbers for further analysis. Budgets and financial documents can also be found on the MUSD’s website.

In public comment he stated,

Yes, there is fiscal pressure, but fiscal pressure is not a blank check for irresponsible governance….Show the stabilization plan, fully explain management compensation, and the alternatives [to school closure] that were supposed to be presented. Show what had been cut, examined, frozen or restricted at the top before dismantling schools in this community.

Carolyn Riggs, the parent of a student at Friendly Hills Elementary School in Joshua Tree, acknowledged the time board members had spent meeting with parents about this issue. She also discussed meeting with Mike Fine, CEO of California’s Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, which advises school districts, who told parents that the fiscal crisis could be addressed without closing schools in the MUSD. She also discussed best practices the district could employ to identifying savings without closing schools, such as performing a comparative analysis to other districts to identify where the district could be overspending and to save. She stated,

There are clear actionable steps available for the district to create a viable fiscal stabilization plan for MUSD that does not involve closing any schools. At this point, our district has not presented detailed financial modeling to demonstrate what school closures would actually save, showing each item of savings line by line, along with other expected increased costs incurred with transport or structure improvement, and seeing where it nets out is crucial data.

In closing, Riggs asked that the Board direct the administration to produce a comprehensive, community informed fiscal stabilization plan with clear data and a full exploration of alternatives before considering school closures stating, “School closures should only ever be a last resort.”

The final public comment of the evening was the only one that did not address school closures directly. Tom Baumgarten, a former superintendent of the MUSD, addressed the board and thanked them for their service. Speaking about the board, he told community members, “Community, trust them. They will work hard, they’ll do what they can, and they’ll do the best thing they can for you.” Finally, he recommended that the professional development building located in the old Joshua Tree Elementary School be named for groundbreaking educators in the Morongo Basin and include an Educator Hall of Fame to recognize excellence.

Further questions to consider on the impact of potential school closures

Those who offered public comment raised many vital issues around financial and decision-making transparency at the highest administrative levels of the MUSD. They also painted a picture of the many roles schools play in the Morongo Basin as places of learning, connection, and community building that support whole families in addition to the students who attend. As the district embraces innovation with programs like the Cisco Networking Academy and gets recognized for excellence in the dual enrollment program, what will they do to make sure students, including the most vulnerable, don’t get left behind or suffer due to long bus rides, crowded classrooms, and over-stretched teachers?

Parents and community members have repeatedly asked the board for more transparent data around potential school closures, but it is unclear if the board will be able to provide that before the June 9 deadline requested by President Claire for the enrollment committee to provide their recommended actions to address declining enrollment. And while the board reports that enrollment could fall to 6,821 within five years, that estimation is based on local birthrates. Other factors could impact enrollment, such as younger couples or families with small children moving to the hi-desert, which should be taken into consideration. It also remains unclear why the board has moved so quickly to potentially push for school closures without fully examining the impact they will have on Morongo Basin communities.

Closing schools also raises legal obligations to ensure the board of education follows a community engagement process and don’t violate students’ civil rights. Attorney General Rob Bonta laid out these laws and offered guidance in a 2023 letter to superintendents and Board of Education members facing demographic and fiscal pressure similar to that of MUSD. The introduction of the letter states, “These impacts [of school closure] are serious and can cause educational harm. When these harms affect one group of students more than others, they may also be unlawful.” What actions will the MUSD take to ensure equity and access close to home of quality education for all students?

The next meetings for the MUSD are as follows:

Enrollment Committee Meeting: Tuesday, April 29, 2026 at 6:00 PM, Joshua Tree Professional Development Center (Old Joshua Tree Elementary), 6061 Sunburst Ave, Joshua Tree

MUSD Board Meeting:Tuesday, May 5, 2026 at 6:00 PM, Joshua Tree Elementary School, 4950 Sunburst Ave, Joshua Tree

MUSD Board Meeting: Tuesday, June 9, 2026 at 6:00 PM, Joshua Tree Elementary School, 4950 Sunburst Ave, Joshua Tree

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The Morongo Unified School District (MUSD) reports that student enrollment has fallen from approximately 10,000 students at its peak1 to around 7,300 today and could fall further still. At the committee's April 9 meeting, as reported by the Hi-Desert Star, Superintendent Patricio Vargas presented alternate scenarios, one of which would close Palm Vista Elementary School on Baseline Road in Twentynine Palms as well as Landers and Morongo Valley elementary schools. Students would be reassigned to the closest campuses.

To the Editor:

The unfolding school closures situation in the Morongo Basin is not about budgets or facilities. It’s a stark test: Do we still remember what public institutions are for?

It is wrapped in all that anemic jargon—“efficiency, optimization, sustainability.” Sounds professional, one might think. But it’s just smoke and mirrors. Children become mere statistical headcounts. Schools turn into cost centers. Working parents’ daily routine hell becomes just another logistic task to solve on a long administrative spreadsheet.

But a neighborhood school is not just an enrollment form. It is the invisible framework that makes life possible: it is near and it is there to support your family. In the desert, where distance is real and working families are already at the limit, this isn’t sentimental, it is structural. And it is fundamental.

For far too many kids, it’s the only place they are fed, asked how they are, and where they are not treated like a problem to be “solved”. That isn’t extra. That is everyday reality.

When we discuss children as “units” to shuffle for cleaner numbers to brag about during an annual superintendents’ meeting, public education has already betrayed its purpose.

We all want better schools and stronger programs. But one doesn’t create real futures by dismantling what people depend on. You strengthen what is already there instead.

Parents are not rejecting changes. They’re rejecting a deattached, mechanical version of it—disruption first, explanation later, accountability—never.

This is how institutions fail: “efficiency” becomes moral cover for decisions made over people’s heads. Euphemisms. Delays. Processes without teeth. This quiet expectation that the public will get tired and quit.

We will not.

As Americans, we are trained since childhood to swallow nonsense politely, “keep it to yourself,” mistake fatigue for quiet wisdom. Public life rots under such habits. A healthy community shows up, speaks up, and refuses to surrender its children to managed decline.

These parents fighting for their children’s future are not the issue. But the public school that runs without the public—by consultants, executives, and PR teams—is.

A working mother rushing between jobs for a school pickup, a special needs child who gets one stable place every day, teachers, aides— all these people are not collateral damage. They are the whole damn point.

But this community will transcend.

We don’t need more polished messaging and colorful presentations. We need the courage to say it plainly: closing these schools isn’t prudent. It is immoral. Schools are not spreadsheets. They are part of the social contract. And if I learnt something during years I’ve been living here is that our desert community would not tear that down for some administrative convenience.

Vadim Altschuler, Twentynine Palms

Petition: Protect Morongo Basin Schools from Closure

Upcoming meetings:
MUSD Board Meeting
Tuesday, April 21, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Joshua Tree Elementary School
4950 Sunburst Ave, Joshua Tree

Enrollment Committee Meeting
Tuesday, April 29, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Joshua Tree Professional Development Center
(Old Joshua Tree Elementary)
6061 Sunburst Ave, Joshua Tree

MUSD Board Meeting
Tuesday, May 5, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Joshua Tree Elementary School
4950 Sunburst Ave, Joshua Tree

The Desert Trumpet is within $150 of meeting our $10,000 paid subscription goal!!! We need your paid subscriptions to publish the coverage you depend on. Basic subscriptions are $50 per year or $5 per month.

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