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Home > Desert Oracle Radio > Teacher associations give strong arguments for smaller class sizes and against staff layoffs, MUSD Board approves tentative agreement
Podcast: Desert Oracle Radio
Episode:

Teacher associations give strong arguments for smaller class sizes and against staff layoffs, MUSD Board approves tentative agreement
Category: Society & Culture
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2026-02-16 17:46:14
Description:

At last Tuesday’s Morongo Unified School District (MUSD) meeting (2/10), representatives from California School Employees Association (CSEA) and Morongo Teachers Association gave strong testimonies before the Board of Trustees approved the CSEA/MUSD tentative agreement. There were also updates regarding school lunches and the MUSD Enrollment Committee.

CSEA representative Tracie Lane approached the Board of Trustees with concerns regarding the district laying off five health techs. While these unlicensed health techs would be getting replaced with outside service licensed health techs, Lane made the point they would be getting trained by the current unlicensed health techs with years of experience with MUSD students and their families. Addressing the Board’s claim that layoffs are coming from lack of work or funds, Lane posed that hiring outside services “doesn’t bode well.” Lane went on to ask the Board why MUSD has five superintendents “with student body of less than 8000, yet other districts with 26,000+ seem to run efficiently with just four.” Lane suggested those extra funds could be used to keep current health techs in schools and eliminate crowded combination classrooms to make class sizes more manageable. 

Also regarding school budget, MTA President Amber Hanson reiterated that “your budget should reflect your values,” reminding the Board that two years ago MTA negotiated for smaller class sizes by taking it out of MTA’s own budget. “We are asking for fair compensation to recruit and retain our members and have highly qualified teachers because our students deserve the best, and to have shared decision making,” said Hanson. She added MTA is getting signatures to get an extension on Prop 55 on the ballot to protect school funding; if it doesn’t pass, Hanson said they risk losing 11.3 million dollars which she equated to the cost of 113 teachers. 

The Board then voted 5 to 0 to approve the CSEA/MUSD tentative agreement. 

Assistant Superintendent of Business Services David Daniels gave an update on the secondary lunch period for the district, stating they would implement a one-lunch model for the 2026-27 school year, a plan he said would “emphasize efficiency, continuous meal availability, safety, and supervision” for all students. 

Public Information Officer Jene Estrada gave an update on the Enrollment Committee’s first meeting January 26, where all chair people were elected and members provided a general overview of the district’s financial condition and enrollment trends. Estrada said, “at its peak, enrollment was 10,000 strong and now it’s down to 7,300,” adding that it is impacting operations.

View recordings of MUSD meetings here.

The post Teacher associations give strong arguments for smaller class sizes and against staff layoffs, MUSD Board approves tentative agreement appeared first on Z107.7 FM Joshua Tree.
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