EVIT is gearing up to move into the former Four Peaks Elementary School campus with an initial roster of classes including popular Career/Technical Education (CTE) courses currently taught at Fountain Hills High School, as well as a pair of new classes that cover cyber security and medical careers.

This information was part of a progress report offered by FHUSD Superintendent Dr. Patrick Sweeney during the Jan. 25 School Board meeting, with EVIT Superintendent Dr. Sally Downey on hand to field additional questions.

Sweeney said that current CTE programs offered by FHHS, including sports medicine, nursing, business management/administrative services, video production, graphic design and photography, will be moved to the EVIT campus at the beginning of the 2017-18 academic year. They will be joined by a pair of new courses including Medical Careers 10: Human Anatomy and Physiology and CISCO Networking Academy/Cyber Security. Sweeney explained that EVIT has big demand for the latter and that the Fountain Hills campus will be the only location where it is being taught.

Additional elective courses, such as drawing, painting, band, dance, health, sociology and Spanish, will remain on the high school campus as part of the FHHS curriculum.

Sweeney explained that EVIT will offer morning and afternoon blocks for courses, with a calendar that mirrors the local district. The calendar and scheduling may be tweaked as the program grows. Sweeney added that while most EVIT students will probably drive themselves or carpool to the site, transportation will be provided by the district to get to the EVIT campus here in town.

Sweeney said he is working on an evolving to-do list but, currently, the primary goal of the high school will be to promote EVIT’s offerings to local students for next year. EVIT will handle its own marketing, making Fountain Hills courses available to any student attending a partnered school district.

Following inspection, Sweeney said only a couple of major projects needed to be tackled before EVIT can move in. Roof repairs were expected to begin today, Feb. 1, with tiles in two bathrooms in need of replacing. He added that both projects are being paid for out of existing bond funds established for site maintenance and upkeep and that both projects would need to be completed whether or not EVIT intended to move in.

Also an ongoing project, leftover furniture is being auctioned off from when the building was occupied by Four Peaks Elementary School. Sweeney said this was a “someday” project that needed to be tackled and that the impending EVIT occupation finally moved it to the forefront.

Currently, utilities, water, alarm services, landscaping and climate energy management services are being transferred to EVIT, with any additional costs to equip the building for programs, as well as future maintenance, being the task of the new occupant. Sweeney estimated that, even without classes operating in the site, the building costs FHUSD about $30,000 annually to maintain; a cost that the district will no longer have to cover.

In the coming weeks, Sweeney said that both the FHUSD Governing Board and EVIT’s board will receive recommendations for an initial five-year lease on the site.

“We expect the program to grow slowly, but we expect it to be successful in the long run,” Sweeney said.

According to Dr. Downey, EVIT offerings will continue to grow based on what they feel will be successful in Fountain Hills. Possible future offerings she highlighted included veterinary technician courses that are popular at other EVIT sites, as well as a hospitality program.