Morongo Unified School District approves sports to return, could signify same for other local districts

The Morongo Unified School District held a special meeting Monday night, voting 5-0 in favor of allowing high school sports to return to play.

"Full send," said Michael Usher, head basketball coach and assistant football coach at 29 Palms.

Locally, that means Twentynine Palms and Yucca Valley high schools have been cleared to begin the process of getting back to sports competition. However, work still needs to be done as far logistics and schedules, all of which is expected to happen in the coming days.

"We have to clarify some things but our teams will compete this year in whatever the DVL teams do," said Usher.

There's been a growing optimism around the return of high school sports in California, specifically our desert with case-rates dropping significantly, getting close to the threshold.

In Riverside County, the current case-rate is at 16.6 per 100,000 people. Once we reach 14 or less cases per 100,000 people, youth/prep sports are allowed to return.

"The expectation is that the case-rate will drop below 14 tomorrow," said Usher.

This is encouraging as new numbers, expected to be announced Tuesday, March 2nd, should give the green light for all local prep/youth sports programs in the desert.

Stay with KESQ News Channel 3 for more as this story develops.