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School Board tackles policy wording

Posted 11/1/22

The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board met last Wednesday, Oct. 26, for a work study session. The Board heard results from the second staff survey of the semester, and members …

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School Board tackles policy wording

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The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board met last Wednesday, Oct. 26, for a work study session. The Board heard results from the second staff survey of the semester, and members changed the phrasing of seven policies to better fit the whole district.

Regarding policy JRR, the Board changed the regulations on survey requirements. Now, any student survey done by an outside entity and any student survey asking for personal information must be approved by both the superintendent and the Board.

The Board amended the regulation and exhibit for policy KI, relating to school visitors. Originally, parents of enrolled pupils and parents who wish to enroll their children were “encouraged” to visit, tour and observe the schools and classrooms, but the Board changed the wording to “may visit.”

This was to avoid situations where parents on restraining orders or similar circumstances might claim they were “encouraged” to violate the order. The exhibit for policy KI is a form to explain the purpose of the visit, and it will be in each school office.

Policy KB regards parental involvement in education, and the exhibit is labeled as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights.” Parents are allowed to request written and electronic records for attendance, test scores, disciplinary records and more, including the school’s library collection of available books and materials.

The Board changed the regulation to include a reasonable expectation of time for staff to acquire the records sought. They also amended the Parents’ Bill of Rights so anywhere it said “parent,” it now says “parent or legal guardian.”

Policy IJL relates again to the school library. The school must document all books purchased after Jan. 1, 2023, on their website. The regulation requires the notice be online for 60 days, but Board members discussed labeling the purchases with dates and leaving the information online permanently.

The Board also changed the exhibit, so parents may request access to library materials, and they must seek approval from administration, rather than from the superintendent.

FHUSD’s hazing document had previously been available in every athletic handbook, but now it will be in every student handbook and in the main office at each site.

The last policy discussed, JLCB, regarded immunizations. The Board removed a paragraph of redundant information and approved the rest of the policy. Under JLCB, Arizona students are not required to have a COVID-19 vaccine.

FHEA Survey

The Fountain Hills Education Association surveyed FHUSD staff in January prior to the hiring of Superintendent Dr. Cain Jagodzinski, and the FHEA did their third survey this year in October. The second survey was done at the beginning of the fall semester, and TJ Buckley explained the shift in results over the first quarter.

Buckley mentioned that the 69 responses he received was the most since he’s been apart of FHEA. There was a new question asked this time specific to retention, and 80% of respondents say they are likely or highly likely to return next year. 44% said it’s highly likely, and only 4% said highly unlikely.

The repeated questions were on feeling valued and respected by site and district administration, and personal and site morale. The FHEA saw fewer positive reviews than they did in August, but still most results were better than January.

In October, 74% of respondents said they felt respected by site administration, compared to 87% in August and 60% in January. Regarding district administration, 72% of respondents said they felt valued in October, compared to 87% in August and 42% in January.

Personal morale has fallen from 83% positive in August to 62% now, well above the 51% positive rating in January. School site morale had the lowest rating this survey, with only 42% saying they had a positive school climate, and 35% saying neutral. Site morale was 64% positive in August, and 53% positive in January.

The Board honored Angie Brooks as the district employee of the month and Jeff Nicks for his retirement. Nicks was not present but has been a bus driver for FHUSD for the past 10 years.

The Board heard a proposal for a student trip to England and Scotland next year over fall break, and members discussed the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation representative in further detail. The Board drafted a document to define the role of the representative and for how FMYN would select the representative.

The Board also conducted its annual self-evaluation and mentioned how the late Judith Rutkowski always enjoyed doing them.

The next Board meeting will be a business meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 6 p.m. The Board will meet privately for an executive session at 5 p.m., and then open the meeting to the public inside the FHUSD Learning Center and on YouTube.