Morongo Unified School District

It's a very interesting place to be.

So my name is Juan Carlos Pinheiro, and we're actually in the Morongo Unified School District up here.

And, you know, a couple of months ago, three months ago, I really had no inkling that this is where I would be at.

So I am not a politician by any stretch of the imagination here, and I am very much a dad.

So when you have, you know, less kiddos in school, you're making less money because each kiddo is worth, you know, about $19,000 per student.

Is the 29 Palms Marine base included in that Morongo Valley school district?

Yeah, yeah, the Morongo Valley, the Morongo Unified School District is actually massive geographically.

So it's everywhere from Morongo all the way through 29 Palms up towards Landers.

So, but the bullet point of this whole situation is yesterday I was, I was kind of deciding, like, you know, I got home, and I was getting ready to go get the kids, and I'm like, "Well, you know, it's Wednesday.

It's, that's early release day for Morongo Unified School District." So I'm like, "Technically, if I pick the kids up from school, and we go straight from school, could probably have time to go down the hill and take the kids, uh, to do something fun today." And that would make up for going down the hill again tomorrow, which is, which is now today.

So I did end up picking the kids up and drove them straight to Costco, which for a kid is a fun place to be.

Mm-hmm.

Reporting for Z107.7 News, I'm Gabriel Hart.

The Morongo Unified School District Board of Education meets tonight, and online news editor Robert Hayden has a rundown of what you can expect.

On the agenda for tonight's meeting, the board will immediately adjourn to a closed session where they'll discuss school disciplinary matters, potential litigation, an employee dismissal, and a labor negotiation conference.

The board will then open the public portion of the meeting at 6:00 PM, where they're expected to discuss shareable actions from the closed session.

They'll also receive reports from student representatives at Black Rock High School, the Board of Education, the district superintendent, and MUSD staff members.

There's also gonna be opportunity for your public comments.

The Morongo Unified School District Board of Education meet in regular session tonight at 6:00 PM for the public portion of the meeting.

It's taking place at Joshua Tree Elementary School, located at 4950 Sunburst Avenue.

On this Friday, October 9th of 2026, the Up Close show is a special presentation of Z1077 news presented in the public interest.

Today, Z1077 continues our series of local candidate forums for Morongo Unified School District Area 1, covering parts of 29 Palms and Joshua Tree.

We have in studio today Ruben Rodriguez and Vadim Altschuler, who are running against incumbent Melissa Bond.

And Melissa, I'm going to call you Missy because I've been doing that since you were this big.

And, Monsieur, I'll go to you.

I asked you the same question.

What's the biggest challenge for Morongo Unified School District?

You know, basically it is, and it's happening all over California and the United States.

Wells.This Friday, Z107.7 will continue our series of local candidate forums.

For Morongo Unified School District Area 1, covering parts of 29 Palms and Joshua Tree, Ruben Rodriguez and Vadim Altshuler are running against incumbent Melissa Bond.

The elected trustee will serve two years to complete a term first won by Cara Lee Hargrove, who resigned in May.

Bond was appointed to the board pending the election.

The recognition is awarded for four years.

Morongo Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Patricio Vargas said, "...this achievement represents a commitment to building school communities where every student is seen, valued, included, and given the opportunity to contribute." The recognition marks an important milestone at Yucca Valley High School that began during the 2018-2019 school year when the school started a unified physical education class, which includes students of different abilities in a blended class setting.

Yucca Valley High School Unified Leader Angela Gay said, quote, The school district says that the high school's Unified P.E. program Expanded into unified leadership programs, these efforts have included unified sports competitions in flag football, soccer, kickball, and track and field, as well as events such as a unified champion pep assembly and disability awareness fair.

Jay Robbins, the frontman and songwriter of American post-hardcore band Jawbox, will be playing a free solo acoustic show tomorrow at Yucca Valley's Up on the Sun Records.

We also have links to news stories for additional context around the election as we head into the final month of campaigns for both municipalities.

The page will be updated after Gary holds his Morongo Unified School District candidate forum next Friday, October 2nd.

You can find both podcasts, question and answer transcripts, and all related news on our election coverage.

That's all at z1077fm.com slash elections.

He is being held at the West Valley Detention Center on $70,000 bail.

After months of uncertainty over the possible closure of Landers Elementary School, the Morongo Unified School District says the school will remain open.

At a community meeting last night, school district superintendent Dr. Patricio Vargas recommended that the district not proceed with consolidation, and board members agreed.

Reporter Hillary Sloan has more.

The Morongo Unified School District has stepped back from a proposal that could have closed Landers Elementary School and consolidated its students with Yucca Mesa Elementary.

At the September 22nd community meeting, Superintendent Dr. Patricio Vargas told parents, teachers, and residents that the district had heard their concerns.

We know students are, are learning at this point.