JOSHUA TREE - The Morongo Unified School District Board of Education met for their regular Board meeting last week and discussed safety projects, local indicators and goals for the 24-25 school year.
The meeting took place on Tuesday, June 25 at Joshua Tree Elementary school and kicked off with a safety presentation by Jack Salseda, Director of Risk Management and Transportation. Salseda updated the Board on ongoing safety projects including a new keyless entry system and a window film project that converts windows to shatter-resistant windows.
The window film project began in the 23-24 school year and will be completed in the 24-25 school year. Exterior-facing windows across the district that are eye level or below will be treated with film that will allow them to hold their integrity when damaged. This film provides another layer of safety for students during emergency situations.
“This will provide critical time in an emergency,” Salseda said. “If a window treated with this film was shot through by a bullet, the bullet would go through but the window wouldn't shatter, it would remain intact and it would take an individual a substantial amount of time to make a hole in that window large enough to gain entry to the building.”
That additional time allows students and staff members time to run from a threat.
Sites across the District are also moving to a keyless entry system. Moving to keyless entry allows doors to be managed by administrators and the District office if needed. Keyless entry will be in place at all school sites starting this school year.
“In the case of a lockdown keyless entry would allow an administrator to lock an entire campus at the push of a button,” Salseda said.
After the safety update the Board received an update on priority areas identified in the Local Control Funding Formula statute. Priority areas include appropriately assigned teachers, access to Curriculum, aligned instructional materials and safe, clean and functional school facilities.
Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Amy Woods reported that the District currently has four teacher vacancies and no teacher misassignments. All students were also found to have access to instructional materials.
Other areas of focus include implementation of state academic standards, parent involvement and family engagement and access to a broad course of study. Woods stated that the District will be working next year on increasing family engagement but providing more family functions including events like math night and Bingo for Books.
In the action items for the meeting the Board approved the 2024-25 Local Control and Accountability Plan and the 2024-25 budget. The Board also approved updated contracts for Superintendent Dr. Patricio Vargas, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Sharon Flores, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Stacy Smalling and Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Amy Woods.
The updated contracts extend the terms for the Superintendent for an additional four years following past practices and for the Assistant Superintendents an additional three years, the maximum contract length allowed for assistant superintendents.
The Board also approved a new Workplace Violence Prevention Plan which outlines MUSD's proactive measures to prevent workplace violence in accordance with California state law and the District’s commitment to the safety and well-being of our community.
The plan involves a new online reporting system, which will notify supervisors, human resources and law enforcement immediately of a report of workplace violence. Upon the report of an incident, the District will activate immediate measures to secure the safety of all individuals involved, provide necessary medical and psychological support to affected persons, initiate a thorough investigation to ascertain facts and determine necessary disciplinary or corrective actions and communicate with the school community as appropriate, respecting the privacy and confidentiality of those involved.
The Board will reconvene for their next regular meeting on Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. at Joshua Tree Elementary School. For more information visit https://www.morongousd.com/o/musd/page/board-of-education.