This is a continuation of the question-and-answer series with the candidates for Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board.

The question posed by staff at The Times this week is: What would you prioritize to maintain FHUSD’s high standard of success, and how would you promote that success to the public?

Madicyn Reid

I will work to ensure focus and adherence to core education, traditional American values, and fiscal responsibility.

As a publicly funded institution, it is important to spend each dollar wisely, honestly, and in the best interests of our students. By reigning in our budget and allocating funds properly, we will build trust with our community and taxpayers. I will ensure funds are dedicated to supporting teachers, sports, supplemental education programs, and school safety. This will allow our children to flourish while attending school and prepare them for the future.

Academic instruction is the primary purpose of public education, so it must be our focal point. Recruiting top educators, setting challenging expectations, and providing students the tools to be successful, will garner quality results. I will ensure our school district’s focus is our children’s education and will root out anything not directly related to furthering learning and preparing them for success.

American values such as personal responsibility, integrity, dedication, truthfulness, and loyalty should be the backdrop to our education system. By combining traditional American values with math, science, English, and the arts, our students will have the foundation to achieve tremendous success.

Our community is an extraordinary asset to our schools and students. They support our schools with tax credits, donations, and their time. I will foster additional support from our parents and citizens by incorporating independent study programs and leadership classes taught by our skilled business community.

Teachers, parents, community members, and students count on school board members to be on the front lines, ensuring our goals and commitments are adhered to. Knowing everyone is busy managing their lives, I will make certain parents, teachers, students, and community members are provided easily accessible information on school board decisions, student results, and school budgets.

Judith Rutkowski

Maintaining FHUSD's high standard of success can be accomplished by following the right principles and practices, many of which were noted in previous answers. Put plainly, the success of a school district is measured by how well the district meets its obligations to students. parents, and taxpayers.

It includes recognizing the vital role the parents play in the education and upbringing of their children and welcoming their active participation in the educational process. It includes offering a quality product which attracts and retains students. It includes the direction of funding to achieve the best outcomes. It includes creating and maintaining a positive culture among teachers and support staff which promotes a work ethic that translates into better educational outcomes.

Of course, the district should promote itself by frequent communication from administration and teachers with parents and community groups utilizing electronic means and in-person events. As with most “products,” the best “marketing” is by “word-of-mouth” communication. If the district is delivering a good “product,” it follows those parents, students, teachers, and staff are likely to share their positive experience and impressions with others and thus help develop and grow a reputation that FHUSD does its job and does it well.

Libby Settle

Albert Einstein once said, “Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.” This quote holds true about FHUSD. We have seen many successes promoted in the paper weekly, on social media, and in conversations. I believe we must focus on the value our boutique district has if we’d like to see the school’s soar. While successes are great and we should continue to promote them whenever we can, we must focus on ways for the community to appreciate our school district.

I’ve met a lot of people on this journey and many underestimate the value of having a local school. I personally witnessed the destruction caused when my small district in Illinois consolidated with another district. This is not yet the case for FHUSD and while some may find consolidation fiscally responsible, I witnessed the loss of local control with board members who didn’t reside in the area yet were allowed to make decisions for the community, changes in property values, school engagement, and shuttered buildings bringing a lack of pride in schools and the town. Resulting in families choosing other communities close by to raise their children. FHUSD must be valued.

FHUSD class sizes, excellent teachers and staff, and its ability to meet students where they are, has been a treasure for our family and many others which has made our district a shining star. As community members see the district’s test scores improving, engaged students, increasing enrollment, more enthusiasm surrounding our schools, supported teachers, and fiscal responsibility, successes will automatically be valued and promoted. Community and family engagement has been shown to have a positive impact on student’s achievements. Encouraging family and town interactions in FHUSD helps everyone realize how valuable the success of our school district is for our town’s future.

Lillian Acker

FHUSD is known as a boutique district because it is so small, we are able to keep our class sizes small while still offering a large number of diverse courses. We offer AP and AVID courses to our students. We need to continue to have high standards for all and this will show by the students performing well in state level exams.

One advantage we have by our size is that our students are able to play a variety of sports. In many districts, the number of children playing sports is limited to allow more students to participate. In our district, opportunities exist for a single child to play in a variety of sports, thus having the unique place to be allowed to try sports to make it easier to choose one that he/she feels most comfortable playing.

One other successful thing at FHUSD is our music program. Not many districts in the country offer the ability to begin playing musical instruments at a young age. Fountain Hills does a fabulous job teaching music at the elementary level.

Teaching language arts, mathematics, science, and history alone are not enough. We want our students to get a well-rounded education and exposing children to extracurriculars, such as music, sports, and the arts, helps the students become more successful and even better test takers.

The wonderful things we offer at FHUSD help not only the families, but also the community, to the various activities at the schools. We can invite the Fountain Hills population to music and sports events, so they enjoy activities with the students. Our newspaper and various clubs in Fountain Hills can advertise these events and invite all to join. By celebrating the fun in schools and seeing the excellence of our programs, everyone can take pride in Fountain Hills.

Jenny Amstutz-Guerrette

Success is making sure everyone can reach their potential and become the best version of themselves. We have a dedicated team in our district, all striving to create a safe, nourishing, educational environment for every child that comes through the doors.

Collaboration between the board, administration, teachers, parents, community members, and experts in the field of education allows for creative ideas, feedback, and issue resolution. Accountability of our students and teachers can also go a long way to ensure we keep our high standards. Success can be in academics, athletics, performing arts, community service – the list goes on.

Our goal is to work as a team, to lift everyone in our district to higher achievements. As a team we succeed, and so do our kids. A board that encourages collaboration, as well as academic excellence, will provide the support the teachers, parents, and students need to enable each child to reach their highest potential, their unique definition of success.

An example of promoting success to the public just started this month with Superintendent Jagodzinski’s Falcon of the Month award for teachers, staff, and students who “best represent the Falcon Way with their exemplary display of Accountability, Discipline, Excellence, Integrity, Professionalism, Respect and Responsibility”. Anyone attending the School Board meeting on September 14 enjoyed the smiles and hugs that the Falcon of the Month celebration brought. The interactions that were displayed and the jokes that were shared during the presentation made everyone attending feel like they were part of something great.

This is the feeling we want to share with everyone in our school. The board can promote our school district and successes; students and parents will make an even bigger impact by sharing their positive experiences with friends and neighbors. Falcon pride can go a long way.

Tara Lamar

One of the primary roles of the Governing Board is to create the vision and goals the community wants to see occur in our district; then monitor and support the Superintendent as he implements the strategies necessary to fulfill them. In championing the high standard of success in our district I would prioritize supporting and growing Dr. J’s celebration of school achievements and the exceptional Falcons we possess.

We are fortunate that at FHUSD our successes are abundant. Each school is their own unique “Campus of Champions” filled with students that exemplify academic excellence, competitive athletic teams, and outstanding teachers and staff. I am extremely pleased with Dr. J’s focus on showcasing these Falcon stand outs.

As a former PTO President and former FH Athletic Booster Club board member I understand the unparalleled value our teachers, coaches and staff bring to our district. I have always strived to demonstrate my commitment and unfaltering advocacy to them. As a parent and community member I also cherish learning about students that are developing into extraordinary individuals. Dr. J has designed a platform of excellence where students, teachers, and staff are now regularly recognized at Governing Board meetings, in the FH Times, on social media and various other public forums. These promotions of our district’s finest boost community confidence in the quality experience students are receiving by attending FHUSD.

Dr. J has chosen a pathway that is building a climate encouraging to all stakeholders. His choice of implementation in highlighting our successes is cost effective, uplifting and will continue to gain traction as more stakeholders take notice. In this instance prioritizing and promoting FHUSD’s high standards is easy; let Dr. J stay the course and enjoy the stories garnering Falcon Pride.