The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board met last Wednesday, April 13, for a business meeting. The Board discussed ongoing standardized testing, heard a presentation on last year’s fiscal audit and discussed policies and procedures for next year.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Patrick Sweeney gave a report on the testing that finished last week. The district has passed the 95% testing threshold, and he complimented all students and faculty for their hard work.

Later in the meeting, Sweeney and the Board honored Tyler Ludwig, a senior at Fountain Hills High School and a National Merit finalist. Nearly 1.5 million students from across the country enter the academic competition each year, and Ludwig was part of the 1%, or about 15,000 students, to receive the honor.

Sweeney continued to report that several teacher job openings have been posted on multiple sites online to recruit new staff for next year. Sweeney also reported that four books are under consideration as supplemental reading items, and they will be available to view for 60 days in the district office, starting last Thursday, April 14.

Audit

Henry and Horne, Certified Public Accountant, presented the findings for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2021. The Board was displeased because this most recent audit had more discrepancies than they were used to seeing in FHUSD’s audits.

According to Henry and Horne, FHUSD could not offer appropriate support for a significant portion of transactions related to receipting for District accounts, student activities, auxiliary reports and extracurricular Tax Credit funds. Henry and Horne tested a range of 10 to 25 transactions in this category.

Board member Jill Reed made a comment later that the discrepancies in procurement records were a big issue. According to the audit, for eight of 10 procurement items purchased, FHUSD did not obtain at least three written quotes. And for 10 of 10 cooperative agreements, FHUSD did not maintain documentation of being listed as part of the agreement.

For instance, Henry and Horne had to reach out to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale to find record of a transaction between FHUSD and the organization from over 10 years ago, because FHUSD did not maintain that record.

The Board wants to avoid these problems and others in next year’s financial audit. FHUSD spent $1,303,570 in 2021, and according to Henry and Horne, in the current year, the bank reconciliation was reconciled.

Policies

The Board started the action section of the agenda by passing the schedule of meetings for 2022-23. The only change was that business meetings will start at 6 p.m., not 6:30 p.m.

Following the meeting schedule, athletic director Evelyn Wynn presented and answered questions about a new District Athletic Handbook. According to Wynn, there was no handbook when she came to Fountain Hills last summer, and Board member Dana Saar thanked Wynn and said, “it’s about time someone did this.” The Board approved and passed the new handbook.

The Board disagreed on a school trip to Italy for next summer, but it was approved by a vote of 3-2. The trip will be chaperoned by teachers Luke Salzman and Christopher Peterson, and it will be run through EF Tours. The dates are May 29 through June 8, 2023, after school lets out, and the cost per student is about $3,500. Tax credits may be used to fund the trip, but tax credit payments will not be refundable.

The Board approved the Indian Polices and Procedures for the 2022-23 school year. FHUSD attests that it has established Indian Policies and Procedures (IPPs) as required in section 7004 of the Impact Aid law for any children claimed who reside on eligible Indian lands.

FHUSD will provide an opportunity for the Tribe and parents of Indian Children to offer their views on the District’s educational programs and activities, and the IPPs will be disseminated to the tribes and parents of children residing on eligible Indian lands. A copy of the current policies and procedures will be attached to the FY23 Impact Aid application.

The last agenda item was a discussion on three policies, GCQA, BEDH and JJE. The Board discussed two different regulations each for GCQA and BEDH. The regulations were taken from surrounding Districts and the Board contemplated combining the regulations or just adopting one regulation as is. Policy GCQA refers to reduction in force, and policy BEDH regards public commentary at meetings.

The meeting ended after a discussion on an exhibit on Policy JJE, showing how a school organization would request permission for a school-sponsored fundraiser. The Board decided to implement the JJE policy while continuing to work on the wording in the regulations for GCQA and BEDH.

The Board will meet again on Wednesday, April 27, for a work study session at 5 p.m. The next business meeting will be Tuesday, May 10, at 6:30 p.m. to avoid conflict with the high school’s Senior Recognition Celebration held on Wednesday, May 11. All Board meetings are held in the FHUSD Learning Center and livestreamed on the FHUSD YouTube channel.