The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board met for two special meetings last week. On Tuesday, Jan. 18, the Board approved Jennifer Maclennan as the third-party evaluator for Superintendent Kelly Glass, and the Board also nominated and approved Dr. Patrick Sweeney as the interim Superintendent. On Thursday, Jan. 20, the Board assigned a district point of contact and duties for the two superintendents.

If Dr. Sweeney’s name rings a bell, that’s because he made two previous stops in Fountain Hills during his career. Sweeney has been in education for over three decades, and he served as Fountain Hills High School Principal from 2004-07 and superintendent of FHUSD from 2015-2018.

“I’m honored that the Board has confidence in me to come in and do this,” Sweeney said. “I’m excited and that matters, that means a lot. I had to iron up some shirts and get some suits back from the cleaners, but I’m happy to be in the position for as long as it takes.”

Sweeney’s current contract with FHUSD had him start on Wednesday, Jan. 19, and has a possible end date of June 30. The duration of the evaluation is unknown, but Sweeney will manage the day-to-day operations of the district while Glass’ evaluation is ongoing.

The Board and Sweeney have already discussed priorities, such as monitoring the COVID situation at McDowell Mountain, bringing special education courses back into full compliance and raising overall moral in the district.

Sweeney plans to spend a full day this week at each of the three schools to meet staff and students. He also already looked into the district budget and suggested the Board have “meet and confer” before spring break. Meet and confer is the annual discussion between teacher representatives and the Board to determine any changes in compensation and working conditions.

The Board decided to let Glass continue some superintendent duties from home, as long as they are individual projects that don’t require interaction with other staff. The Board will take files that Glass had previously worked on, remove them from the district server, and give her a laptop with local access to things like grant applications and handbook modifications.

Maclennan was recommended by the district’s legal counsel for the evaluation. She has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America each year since 2015. She is also rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest possible rating for attorneys for both legal ability and ethical standards. Emails sent to the Board or Board members will be turned over to Maclennan for confidentiality and evidence collection. Maclennan may also interview any employee who has resigned since July 15, 2021.

The Board nominated Executive Assistant to the Superintendent Krista Andreae as the District point of contact with Maclennan. The Board also nominated Executive Director of Student Services at Fountain Hills, Kris Alexander, as the second choice for point of contact. Since the Board members do not work for the district, having a point of contact in the district office will help streamline the third-party evaluation.