At a meeting held this past Tuesday, May 9, the Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board made decisions about what will appear on the general election ballot in November. The Times will provide an update in the next edition of the paper, as the meeting was held after press time. There were five items under consideration, but only two have any traction with the Board.

The Board has indicated over the past several meetings that it did not plan to pursue anything related to vacant land, the McDowell Mountain building or an override. The Board’s discussions have been primarily focused on a bond and the Four Peaks school building.

The Board held a special meeting last Tuesday, May 2, and members discussed all potential election items. The public comments made at the beginning highlighted several concerns held by community members, including academic achievement, enrollment and perceived financial mismanagement.

Superintendent Dr. Cain Jagodzinski said he is more confident addressing concerns now than ahead of last year’s election. Jagodzinski and several other members of the District Office were brand new to their jobs last fall, but he said he and his team have done their research into school records and are more prepared to answer questions ahead of this election season.

Jagodzinski released several pieces of information to the public on Monday, May 8. If you are not on the district’s Falcon Focus email list, you can find this information by going to fountainhillsschools.org, and click on “Meeting Files” under the “Governing Board” tab. At the top of the page, FHUSD added all 2013 bond expenditures.

Nearly all of that bond money has been spent. The remaining funds, approximately $114,708, are being put to use in the district’s ongoing consolidation plan.

“This is straight out of Visions, which is our accounting software that goes to the county,” Jagodzinski said. “Once a year is locked, you can’t go back in. It’s locked, so this is as accurate as can be.”

Money was allocated for consolidation because Jagodzinski believes better learning facilities will help enrollment. There are around 3,000 kids under the age of 18 in Fountain Hills, and 1,282 attend FHUSD schools. According to Jagodzinski, 750-800 of those children aren’t old enough for school yet, and he wants to attract all their families to enroll.

Jagodzinski takes inspiration from two role models, Grand Canyon University (GCU) and Apple, the technology company. According to GCU’s own website, they only had 1,000 students on campus in 2008. GCU spent hundreds of millions of dollars on campus renovations and expansions and has benefited ever since.

GCU welcomed its largest incoming class ever of around 9,700 students for the 2022-23 school year. According to GCU, the Lopes have fought against a national trend by setting enrollment records in a year in which nearly 7% fewer high school graduates enrolled in college around the country.

“When you build something new and exciting, it brings people to it,” Jagodzinski said. “Look at Apple, everything about Apple is about aesthetics and beauty.”

Jagodzinski and FHUSD do not have the millions of dollars that Apple and GCU do, but the staff is dedicated to bettering the lives of Fountain Hills students.

Jagodzinski reported a 91% retention rate of staff following contract issuances. He also reported on standardized testing and said the high school’s average composite ACT score went up one point from last year’s standardized testing. FHUSD also saw an increase in enrollment for the first time in a long time this year. Enrollment is up 91 students according to the most recent data at the time of writing. Jagodzinski is optimistic that will continue to be a trend since the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten registration numbers are higher now than they were a year ago.

The Board also put the Stifel Bond Presentation and the 2021 Gordian Facilities Needs Report on its website for public viewing. The Bond presentation lays out possible different bond amounts, payoff times and their expected tax rates, and the Gordian needs report lays out how much money is expected in maintenance at each site.

According to the Gordian report, Fountain Hills high school needs $11.5 million, and the middle school needs $5.8 million. Four Peaks Elementary School needs five million, according to the Gordian report, but the future of that building is unknown. The Board was expected to decide on both a bond and the Four Peaks building at the May 9 meeting, and a recording should be available online.

All FHUSD meetings are held in the District Learning Center and are recorded and livestreamed on YouTube. The recordings are found under the “live” tab on the FHUSD YouTube channel.