When Mojave Closed Its Schools Twice in Two Weeks

It’s not new information, but it’s still worth remembering: in January 2022, Mojave Unified closed its schools — first on January 14, then again on January 28 — citing “significant shortages in key departments.” Families were told bus routes might be limited and to arrange their own transportation.

I’m not bringing this up to relitigate 2022. I’m bringing it up because rural staffing shortages aren’t a one-time event — they’re a structural risk that shows up again whenever the pipeline runs thin, and small high-desert districts like Mojave are more exposed to it than large ones with deeper bench strength.

Statewide, RAND and K-12 Dive have both documented the same pattern hitting district after district: shrinking budgets and thinner staffing margins leaving less room for error when a handful of employees are out at once. Mojave’s 2022 closures are a concrete, local example of exactly what that looks like when it actually happens to real kids and real families.

A trustee’s job is to ask, before the next thin week hits: does this district have a real staffing cushion, or is it one flu season away from closing campus doors again? That’s not a hypothetical question for Mojave. It already happened once.