Recap: Morongo Unified School District Board Meeting, August 4, 2026
In their first meeting after the summer break, the school board welcomes new staff and prepares for the start of the school year.
On Tuesday, August 4 the Morongo Unified School District held their first board meeting after a two-month summer break before the first day of school on Monday, August 10. In a meeting that set a welcoming tone for the school year ahead, the agenda focused on introducing new school staff, including principals and assistant principals in area schools, and reporting back on summer programs. In a continuation from spring meetings, public commenters expressed ongoing concern about the increase in administrators’ salaries at a time when the school board faced declining enrollment and debated school closures.
The board will hold a study session on August 25, 2026 to conduct a comprehensive review of the School Leaders report and other related reports on school closure and fiscal stabilization and discuss the potential of redistributing school boundaries and school closures. All board meetings, including regular monthly meetings and study sessions, are open to the public except for closed sessions, which typically occur before the regular monthly meetings.
The agenda and recording of the meeting is available on the MUSD’s website.
Introducing new school leaders
Dennis Zinc, Assistant Superintendent Human Resources, introduced newly appointed principals and vice principals. Zinc began his position in June, replacing Stacy Smalling, with a significant number of vacancies to fill.1 Each new leader expressed gratitude to be part of the Morongo Unified School District and anticipation for the year ahead. They are:
Humberto Alvarez, Principal at 29 Palms Elementary School, who joins from the Coachella Valley Unified School District, where he served as a Principal at the Peter Pennington Elementary School.
Melissa Mora, Principal of Joshua Tree Elementary School, who joins from the Coachella Valley Unified School District as well, where she had served as both a principal and assistant principal.
Michael Ventura, Assistant Principal of Yucca Valley High School, who previously worked in the Palm Springs Unified School District, where he was both a Principal and Vice Principal.
Jessica Gibbs, Assistant Principal of Yucca Valley Elementary School, who served as a classroom teacher and Dean of Students there.
Carrie Cole, Assistant Principal of La Contenta Middle School, who has served the Morongo Unified School District since 2014, including as an English Language Teaching coordinator and instructional coach.
During board comments at the end of the meeting, Board Member Roberta Meyers and Chair Christopher Clare expressed gratitude for Mr. Zinc for filling the positions quickly. Meyers stated,
I remember as we closed out our June meeting that we had all of those vacancies ahead of us [and I panicked a little] … I was just so happy when I saw that we got our positions filled, and that we’re starting out the school year not in a [personnel] deficit.
Reporting back on successful summer programs
A variety of summer programs were held throughout the district, including a week-long program to help students entering high school, and a four-day program to help students entering Transitional Kindergarten to acclimate themselves to the school environment.
Amy Woods, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education, reported that the second year of the Summer Bridge Program designed to help incoming freshmen make the transition to high school was a success. It ran four days at the end of July, shortened from 20 days last year. During the program, transportation was provided for students each day, which helped contribute to the program’s success. District-wide 86 students attended: 39 at Yucca Valley High School and 47 at Twentynine Palms High School, in comparison with 20 students across the district last year. The spike in attendance could be due to the shorter program and the transportation that was provided, which was a new addition this year. The program included campus tours, a review of graduation requirements, and how to get support. At the end of the program, student surveys indicated that they felt an increase in confidence, preparedness, and connection to their high school. The MUSD will track long-term outcomes from the program, such as attendance and course progress.
Dr. Gracie Gutierrez, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education, highlighted a program held for the youngest students: the week-long transitional kindergarten Kinder Summer Boost program held in June. 83 students participated and learned the basics of being in school, such as standing in line, taking turns, and getting comfortable being in the classroom and away from their parents.
For middle school-aged students, there were a variety of instructional and recreational summer activities, including an American Ninja Warrior-style competition and a trip to Disney California Adventure for a day focused on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) . Close to 600 students participated in total, with 380 students who were eligible for attendance recovery services, meaning voluntary programs students can participate in to recoup absences accrued during the school year. Attendance is critical because it can impact student achievement and the funding the district receives from the state.
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Public comments address continued concern about administrative salaries, budget, and school closure
Public comments focused on expenditures for top administrators while school closures and tough financial decisions affecting students, teachers, and staff still loom. Alexandra Altschuler expressed concern about the the district’s spending and fiscal hardship students and families were being asked to endure while the Superintendent and executive cabinet received “indefensible” raises, saying,
The community was asked to accept the possible loss of their children’s schools as a fiscal necessity. Leadership was asked to accept nothing. This asymmetry is outrageous for the community. There is also a timing question. The closure conversation intensified during the exact same period the superintendent’s raise was being negotiated. A community fighting to keep a school open has less bandwidth to scrutinize administrative compensation decisions.
She also expressed concern that Superintendent Dr. Patricio Vargas does not live in the district so that the schools that have been proposed for closure to him appear like “someone else’s school.” Dr. Vargas’s home address is private. California state law does not require that employees live in the district that they serve.
The salaries of classified employees, who are school personnel that work in non-teaching capacities, was also the subject of a public comment by Vadim Altschuler, a district parent, classified employee, and candidate for School Board Trustee Area One. He expressed concern that the low salaries and scheduled raise of 0.14% this year, compared to a 2% raise this year and 3.6% raise next year for management, would lead to staff burnout, staff turnover, and declining services for students. He urged the board to protect frontline employees and to pursue a fair salary increase. He emphasized the value that classified employees provide,
Schools do not open by magic. They reopen because classified employees made them ready. Many of us drive long distances, work second jobs, and stretch every dollar. Yet classified employees faced an ongoing increase of only 0.14 percent. This is less than a quarter of percent. At $20 per hour [wage], this [raise amounts too] less than three cents per hour. While food, housing, insurance, utilities, and gas keep rising.
This discrepancy in pay, between top administrators and what teachers, students, families, and frontline staff are being asked to accept, was reflected in public comment by Tom Baumgarten, a former superintendent of the MUSD, who warned this discrepancy could erode public trust.
You’ve got tremendous employees. L.A. Unified gave a 25% raise to their classified employees.2 You know the economics are tough, but you hired more administrators than there are now lights in Yucca Valley … But if you approve this pay scale and you go forward with that, you are telling them that schools can close, but I’m going to make you the one percenters of this community, and we’ve always been one percenters because the economic reality is, kids are poor out here.
The administrative pay scale was previously approved at the June 16 meeting. Assistant Superintendent Zinc and President Clare clarified pay scales were on the agenda in order to correct typos or include positions that were not part of management scheduled raises when they were approved, and did not represent an additional raise for administrators.
For a deeper analysis of administrator, teacher, and classified salaries and school expenditures, see the Desert Trumpet’s recap of the June 16 MUSD board meeting.
Study session on potential school closure on August 25
The board also discussed a number of consent and action items. They heard reports from conferences that staff, board members, and teachers had attended, including gatherings focused on wellness and school safety. Jack Salseda, Director of Risk Management & Transportation, noted that he completed the training to be a Praesidium Guardian during the school safety conference. This is a specially trained individual focused on the prevention of child abuse. Morongo Unified will be the first school district in San Bernardino County to have such a position.
For future agenda items, President Clare stated the need to comprehensively review the information that has been shared with the board to address declining enrollment, including the potential to redraw school boundaries and potential school closures. The board will meet for a study session on August 25th at 8:30 am at the Joshua Tree Professional Development Center to discuss.
The meeting closed with board comments, which focused on welcoming teachers, staff, and students back for the start of school and looking forward to the year ahead. Board member Meyers summed the sentiment up during board comments, “Welcome back, everyone. I’m excited to be back and hope everyone had a relaxing summer and is ready to go.”
The next board meeting is September 8, 2026. School Board Trustees for areas 1, 4, and 5 are up for re-election this year.
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Principal turnover is a systematic issue in California, due to stagnant wages and school working condition. The annual retention rate for principals in California is 78% annually, compared to 80% nationally as reported by Getting Down to Facts.
The LA Times reported that classified employees at LA Unified received a 24% raise.