The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board met last Wednesday, Sept. 28, for a work study session, and they will meet again tonight, Wednesday, Oct. 5, for a business meeting at 6 p.m. The shortened time between the meetings is due to fall break next week from Oct. 10-14.

Superintendent Dr. Cain Jagodzinski was busy around homecoming week, participating in events and also going to the ASBA Principal law conference and an Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) meeting. Jagodzinski plans to implement AVID programs at the middle school next year and has been continuing his community reach out programs with the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club and other organizations, as well as monthly coffee meetings with local stakeholders.

Fountain Hills Education Association President TJ Buckley gave an update to the Board on several topics. The FHEA sent out a new survey to teachers to gauge their standing during the first quarter this past Monday, Oct. 3. Buckley will share those results at a later meeting after data collection, and Buckley also said meet and confer meetings between him and Jagodzinski would begin the week following fall break.

Buckley made the Board aware that staff around the district have noticed a rise in mental health concerns among students, and he said that he’ll bring a proposal to hire a behavior specialist in the future. The FHEA is also creating a committee to review new laws this year and ensure compliance with FHUSD staff.

The Board already did their first reading of 20 new policies handed down by the state at their last business meeting, and at the work study session, they selected a few of them to review in closer detail at a later meeting. The Board will address the wording in the regulations and exhibits of the policies to be more applicable to Fountain Hills’ students and families, while still in compliance with the law.

Jagodzinski went over his goals and objectives for the 2022-23 year, touching on an engaging learning environment, maximizing potential, school safety, positivity, excellence and more. The Board asked that Jagodzinski have specific measurables in future years, whether it be a target percent increase in test scores, or something else, but they liked his goals for this year.

Arizona has changed the state standardized test each of the past three years, and that inconsistency combined with a pandemic left FHUSD without many benchmarks to compare their standing to. Moving forward, Jagodzinski will use the ACT and other metrics to track success and areas of need.

Jagodzinski also introduced the idea to include an incomplete grade on FHUSD’s grading scale. The idea is that students who fail a class by a few points would be able to make up enough work to bring their grade up to 60% in a short time period. Jagodzinski said he wants to flesh out this idea by next school year.

The Board discussed a new bullying reporting form that is written clearer and is “more parent-friendly.” The new reporting form explains all types of bullying and is included with student materials they receive at the beginning of the year.

Former McDowell Mountain Elementary School principal Valerie Dehombreux will be doing a research study for her doctorate through ASU on fourth grade teachers at Fountain Hills Middle School. The Board said that this research study would not impact class time instruction.

The Board discussed having someone from the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation sit in as a non-voting member. Someone has recently reached out to the Board for this position, but the Board wants to ensure that expectations are clearly set for what their role will be before implementing a new position.

Milica Bulj was honored in the Board’s new monthly employee spotlight. Bulj has been a janitor and more for FHUSD for 17 years, and the Fountain Hills Booster Club also presented her with flowers to show their appreciation.

Governing Board candidate Madicyn Reid said in a public comment that she was verbally assaulted and accused of lying by a sitting Board member. Reid did not mention who assaulted her or what was said.

The next Board meeting is tonight, Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. The next work study session will be Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 5 p.m. All meetings are held in the District Learning Center and are livestreamed and recorded on YouTube.