The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board doesn’t have much time to reach a decision concerning a potential November election. The Board met for a special meeting yesterday, Tuesday, May 2, and the last chance for the Board to decide on a 2023 election is next Tuesday, May 9.

The Times inaccurately reported that the Board would vote on items related to the 2023 election in June, but according to an email from the county elections manager, the deadline for the Board to submit notice for election is Thursday, May 11.

The Board plans to put some form of funding measure up for election in November. Exactly what type of funding will be up for election or what dollar amount is unknown at the time of writing. By submitting notice to the County Recorder’s Office, that item(s) will go up for general election and voters will decide to pass or not to pass.

At the April 3 special meeting, Superintendent Dr. Cain Jagodzinski only recommended that the Board put a bond measure up for general election. The Board was still considering a dollar amount and time to pay off the Bond at the work study session last Wednesday, April 26, as well as looking into other options regarding unused land assets and overrides.

The Board spent over an hour discussing election options at the April 26 work study session, but did not come to a conclusion on what would be proposed to voters, so they added the extra meeting last night for additional discussion.

This year, the Board has discussed bonds, overrides, the Four Peaks Elementary School property, the McDowell Mountain Elementary School property and other parcels of land five times before last night’s meeting. Minutes and recordings are available of those meetings, which took place on Jan. 25, Feb. 22, April 3, April 12, and April 26.

The Board is scheduled to have a Tuesday meeting on May 9 to avoid a conflict with athletic signing day and the Golden Eagle Education Foundation Senior Recognition Night on Wednesday, May 10. Following this decision, more details will become available leading up to the November election through the Board and voter informational pamphlets.

The voter pamphlet from last year’s school-related elections was compiled and issued by Maricopa County School Superintendent Steve Watson. That pamphlet included estimated tax impacts to residential, commercial and agricultural properties, and listed estimated costs next to proposed capital improvements.

Other business

Standardized testing is almost complete, minus a few makeup test takers. Jagodzinski was grateful to the teachers and other staff for their efforts in setting up testing rooms, moderating during the test and making the process run smoothly across all sites. Jagodzinski also said the scores from this round of testing will be the first real baseline for his tenure as Superintendent.

Jagodzinski also shared his progress on hiring staff and renovating playgrounds. He said staff hiring is going well, but high school math, English and Spanish will likely be tough positions to fill.

At the soon-to-be consolidated middle school, Jagodzinski wants to put an emphasis on outdoor play and getting kids off of smartphones and tablets. FHUSD has not spent money on playground equipment yet, but Jagodzinski said it will be costly and important to get it right.

The Board approved 12 annual housekeeping items, such as authorizing who has the ability to suspend students and sign checks. Newly elected Board members did ask for clarification on certain items, and the Board may return to topics like out of district placement and sole source providers for further explanation and discussion.

The Board also plans to modify its meeting schedule from the second and fourth Wednesday of every month to the first and third Wednesdays of each month for the 2023-24 school year. This way, the Board’s meetings will not conflict with fall break, spring break and Senior Recognition Night next year.

The Board also heard a first reading of a job description for a behavior specialist at the April 26 meeting. This will be a new position, but there was a contracted employee this year filling many of the needs that a behavior specialist will handle in the future. The district repurposed funds from a position they had a resignation in to pay for the contracted behavior specialist, and the district is applying for grants to pay for the position in the future.

The next Board meeting will be Tuesday, May 9, at 6 p.m. in the FHUSD Learning Center. Following this meeting, the Board is not scheduled to meet until Wednesday, June 7. All meetings are live streamed and recorded on the FHUSD YouTube channel.