Protect Morongo Basin Schools from Closures
The Issue
UPDATE — SEPTEMBER 23, 2026
After months of discussion about closing and consolidating MUSD elementary schools, the immediate decision on Landers Elementary has been put off for now.
That followed overwhelming public participation at the Sept. 10 Landers meeting, where at least 200 parents, students, staff and community members filled the school for nearly three hours. Residents questioned the financial assumptions behind closure, transportation impacts, effects on students and families, and why the district was moving toward consolidation after its own Enrollment/7-11 Committee recommended that school closure remain a last resort.
This is an important development. It is not the end of the issue.
The district continues to face declining enrollment and budget pressure. Boundary changes, facilities, staffing and fiscal stabilization remain under discussion. The Board has requested additional analysis, including a detailed cost comparison for Landers and an equity-impact review, and another budget/boundary study session is scheduled for October.
That is why this petition remains active.
What we are asking for has not changed
Before any neighborhood school is recommended for closure or consolidation, the public should be able to see the complete case — not simply gross staffing estimates or enrollment projections.
MUSD should provide:
- Clear site-by-site net financial analysis, including projected savings, new expenses and transition costs.
- A public accounting of alternatives to closure and which recommendations have actually been implemented and evaluated.
- Receiving-school capacity and facility analysis, including classrooms, restrooms, cafeterias, traffic, pickup/drop-off and required improvements.
- Transportation impacts, including additional routes, annual costs and student travel times.
- Special education and IEP continuity planning.
- Student transition and school-climate planning.
- Staffing and program impacts, including counseling, MTSS, ELOP, STEAM and other student supports.
- Districtwide administrative and operational savings options as part of a complete fiscal stabilization plan.
- Meaningful public review of the evidence before any irreversible decision is made.
- The district’s own Enrollment/7-11 Committee spent months examining enrollment, facilities and possible consolidation.
Its final recommendation was that closures remain a last resort while viable enrollment, retention and operational-efficiency strategies are implemented and evaluated first. Earlier in the process, the committee also identified improvements that would be needed at Yucca Mesa before a Landers consolidation could occur.
At the Sept. 10 Landers meeting, families asked the questions that still matter:
- What is the actual recurring net savings?
- What will transportation cost?
- What investment would a receiving school require?
- Which alternatives were tried first?
- What happens if families leave MUSD rather than follow a consolidation?
Those questions were not answered.
They deserve documented answers before any school community is asked to accept a permanent closure.
This affects the entire Morongo Basin
Landers, Morongo Valley, Friendly Hills, Palm Vista and every other MUSD campus are part of one public school system.
Closing one school affects more than one campus. It can change attendance boundaries, transportation, staffing, programs, traffic, class configurations and the communities served by both the closing and receiving schools.
The immediate Landers decision may be paused, but public oversight should not pause with it.
For the current timeline, district documents, community analysis and local reporting, visit:
SaveMorongoSchools.com
Recent reporting:
Z107.7 — Landers rallies for its elementary school
Hi-Desert Star — Morongo Unified leaders, families face off over school closure plan
Hi-Desert Star — School trustees OK raises, pull back on bonus
Desert Trumpet - What Is the Brown Act, and Why Does It Matter for Our Community?
By signing this petition, signers are asking the Morongo Unified School District and Board of Education for transparent numbers, serious consideration of alternatives, full community-impact analysis and public review before any future school-closure recommendation moves forward.
SHOW THE NET SAVINGS.
ALTERNATIVES FIRST.
CLOSURE LAST.
Morongo Parents for Transparency
1,239
The Issue
UPDATE — SEPTEMBER 23, 2026
After months of discussion about closing and consolidating MUSD elementary schools, the immediate decision on Landers Elementary has been put off for now.
That followed overwhelming public participation at the Sept. 10 Landers meeting, where at least 200 parents, students, staff and community members filled the school for nearly three hours. Residents questioned the financial assumptions behind closure, transportation impacts, effects on students and families, and why the district was moving toward consolidation after its own Enrollment/7-11 Committee recommended that school closure remain a last resort.
This is an important development. It is not the end of the issue.
The district continues to face declining enrollment and budget pressure. Boundary changes, facilities, staffing and fiscal stabilization remain under discussion. The Board has requested additional analysis, including a detailed cost comparison for Landers and an equity-impact review, and another budget/boundary study session is scheduled for October.
That is why this petition remains active.
What we are asking for has not changed
Before any neighborhood school is recommended for closure or consolidation, the public should be able to see the complete case — not simply gross staffing estimates or enrollment projections.
MUSD should provide:
- Clear site-by-site net financial analysis, including projected savings, new expenses and transition costs.
- A public accounting of alternatives to closure and which recommendations have actually been implemented and evaluated.
- Receiving-school capacity and facility analysis, including classrooms, restrooms, cafeterias, traffic, pickup/drop-off and required improvements.
- Transportation impacts, including additional routes, annual costs and student travel times.
- Special education and IEP continuity planning.
- Student transition and school-climate planning.
- Staffing and program impacts, including counseling, MTSS, ELOP, STEAM and other student supports.
- Districtwide administrative and operational savings options as part of a complete fiscal stabilization plan.
- Meaningful public review of the evidence before any irreversible decision is made.
- The district’s own Enrollment/7-11 Committee spent months examining enrollment, facilities and possible consolidation.
Its final recommendation was that closures remain a last resort while viable enrollment, retention and operational-efficiency strategies are implemented and evaluated first. Earlier in the process, the committee also identified improvements that would be needed at Yucca Mesa before a Landers consolidation could occur.
At the Sept. 10 Landers meeting, families asked the questions that still matter:
- What is the actual recurring net savings?
- What will transportation cost?
- What investment would a receiving school require?
- Which alternatives were tried first?
- What happens if families leave MUSD rather than follow a consolidation?
Those questions were not answered.
They deserve documented answers before any school community is asked to accept a permanent closure.
This affects the entire Morongo Basin
Landers, Morongo Valley, Friendly Hills, Palm Vista and every other MUSD campus are part of one public school system.
Closing one school affects more than one campus. It can change attendance boundaries, transportation, staffing, programs, traffic, class configurations and the communities served by both the closing and receiving schools.
The immediate Landers decision may be paused, but public oversight should not pause with it.
For the current timeline, district documents, community analysis and local reporting, visit:
SaveMorongoSchools.com
Recent reporting:
Z107.7 — Landers rallies for its elementary school
Hi-Desert Star — Morongo Unified leaders, families face off over school closure plan
Hi-Desert Star — School trustees OK raises, pull back on bonus
Desert Trumpet - What Is the Brown Act, and Why Does It Matter for Our Community?
By signing this petition, signers are asking the Morongo Unified School District and Board of Education for transparent numbers, serious consideration of alternatives, full community-impact analysis and public review before any future school-closure recommendation moves forward.
SHOW THE NET SAVINGS.
ALTERNATIVES FIRST.
CLOSURE LAST.
Morongo Parents for Transparency
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Petition created on March 13, 2026