Rally to keep Palm Vista Elementary from closing held in Twentynine Palms

Facing a possible closure of Palm Vista Elementary in Twentynine Palms, a group of local residents gathered on Saturday to voice their frustrations.

As the conversation continues within Morongo Unified School District (MUSD) around decreased enrollment and budgetary concerns, proposed solutions include some school closures, including Palm Vista Elementary in Twentynine Palms. Last Saturday, May 2, a group of concerned parents, teachers, students and local leaders gathered in front of the school to express their frustrations. 

James Hassler, a Palm Vista parent, had strong words for education leaders: 

“Fighting for the rights of my kids because their rights are being illegally taken from them at both the Board of Education meeting and the Enrollment Council. They’ve been spinning lies, they’ve defamed our teachers, So yeah, we have some civil rights and some legal issues going on right here because they’re influencing votes based on lies and projected numbers that have no factual basis or actual results yet.”

Opal Belisle, a former Palm Vista student and now a teacher at the school, worries about the community loss of a school closure. 

“So I went to Palm Vista from kindergarten to 6th grade. And now I loved my teachers so much growing up here, knew me by name – I admire that, it made me feel seen, made me feel heard and it inspired me to become a teacher so now I am a second grade teacher here. It’s my fourth year here. 

I see the effect that this has on the community when it’s so small. Everyone knows each other. Just going to Dollar Tree today, there was a cashier who was telling me how much he loved Palm Vista and how he went here. He knew all these staff members by name and how they impacted him and made him feel seen and heard. It’s not just me, it seems like it’s everyone who went to this school.”

As a young student, Belisle, added her handprint and signature to a school mural, and loves sharing this bit of history with her students. “There’s a mural and we got to put our handprint on the mural with a signature too. I tell them to look for it  and so they go around looking for it and when they find it, they tell me.” 

Reggie McAtee, a local realtor and Palm Vista parent, noted the financial/real estate angle of the potential closure: 

“I’m a local business owner and the proud parent of three students at Palm Vista Elementary School. My three adopted daughters are very happy here and thriving with the education here and I’m very concerned that the district wants to close Palm Vista allegedly to sell the property and pocket the money. So it’s a prime location for real estate, you know, I’m in real estate, so this property being close to the national park and the visitor center and on the way to the east gate makes it a very profitable sell potentially and I think that it’s short-sighted and fiscally irresponsible to lose something like this because once they lose it, they’ll never be able to get it back. It’s a very valuable property and a really great location for the kids to learn and to experience our desert, see the national park, see the beauty of it, right here in the front of the school. And it’s concerning that the district can’t manage their money better to keep all these schools open, which have been open as long as I know of.”

Councilmember Octavious Scott who represents District 4, which includes the school, also attended the rally and noted that many of his neighbors either work at the school or are parents of students who attend Palm Vista. 

“I think the community should stay engaged. I think they should show up to the school board meetings, the enrollment committee meetings, and continue to let their voice be heard and educate themselves on some of the dynamics about why the school is even on the chopping block. It’s a complicated issue. It’s not an easy issue. I hope that the school board makes the right decision and focuses more on the students and the families and not so much on the numbers. I know the numbers – the math and the budget matters but there’s gotta be another way.”

Another rally is scheduled for Saturday, May 9th at the Knott’s Sky Park picnic, at 11:00 a.m.

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