The future of our children and communities in the Morongo Basin depends on strong, accessible public schools. Recent discussions about closing as many as four elementary schools as early as Fall 2027 have raised serious concerns among parents, staff, and residents.

The neighborhood schools currently under discussion — Morongo Valley Elementary School, Landers Elementary School, Friendly Hills Elementary School, and Palm Vista Elementary School — are more than buildings. They are essential parts of our communities. They provide children with stability, support, and access to education close to home. They also serve families and neighborhoods in ways that cannot be easily replaced once a school is closed.

This process affects the entire district. A closure does not only impact the school being closed. It also affects receiving schools, which will face larger campus populations,, transportation impacts, traffic and pickup/drop-off issues, staffing cuts, program changes, and increased pressure on classrooms, cafeterias, bathrooms, support services, and school climate.

Recent public meetings and district materials have made one thing clear: school closure should not be treated as inevitable, or as the first and best solution, before the public sees the full fiscal stabilization plan and all alternatives.

The district’s own School Leaders budget stabilization review identifies multiple strategies beyond closure, including attendance recovery, MTSS and special education improvements, technology savings, maintenance and operations savings, business services changes, instructional services changes, and facility-use revenue. The report identifies more than $4.2 million in annual recurring savings, more than $2.9 million in annual revenue opportunities, and $2.9 million in one-time capital and grant opportunities, while facilities optimization savings are still listed as TBD pending committee recommendations.

We are asking the district to prove, in public, that closure is truly the last resort.

Before any closure or consolidation recommendation moves forward, MUSD must provide the public with:

1. Clear site-by-site financial analysis, including actual projected savings and transition costs
2. Full public presentation of alternatives to closure
3. Receiving-school capacity review, including classrooms, bathrooms, cafeteria space, traffic, pickup/drop-off, and support services
4. Transportation and student travel-time impacts
5. Special education and IEP continuity review
6. Student transition and school-climate plans
7. Staffing and program impacts, including ELOP, counseling, MTSS, STEAM, and other supports
8. Administrative reduction options and a clear fiscal stabilization plan
9. Meaningful public hearings and accessible documents before any final vote

The district should not be asking the public to choose which school community is sacrificed. 

Morongo Valley, Landers, Friendly Hills, Palm Vista, and all MUSD communities are part of one unified public school system for a reason: to serve Basin children and families — not to give district management the cleanest budget shortcuts.

School closure should be treated as a last resort, not a first response to district challenges.

By signing this petition, we call on Morongo Unified School District and the Board of Education to commit to transparency, accountability, real alternatives, full community-impact review, and no closure recommendation before the public sees the complete plan.

No closure without transparency.


No closure without real alternatives.


No closure before stabilization.