The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board has expressed interest in recent weeks to put item(s) up for voter approval later this year. The Board is considering a bond and selling, leasing or exchanging school assets. The Board will vote in June to decide if anything will be on the ballot this November.

There are concerns, however, over misinformation and false information leading up to the next school election, as evidenced by Joe Grieco’s public comment to the Board last Wednesday, April 12. He called attention to one blog in particular, “Fountain Hills Alternative,” saying it is filled with inaccuracies pertaining to the local school district and town.

“I don’t know if you’re aware of it, or who owns it or who drives it or what its true purpose is, but it’s a lot of false information and it’s a big cloud over our community,” Grieco said to the School Board. “It’s going to hurt education. It’s not going to help us retain teachers. It’s not going to drive business development. It’s a detriment to us.”

The Fountain Hills Alternative makes posts about the School Board and Town Council, presenting them as news and written under pseudonyms.

FHUSD Superintendent Dr. Cain Jagodzinski said Grieco’s comment was not the first complaint he heard about the blog, The Times verified after the meeting.

“I’ve had several people reach out to me concerned about that site,” Jagodzinski said. “What's been shared with me is that we spent over $200,000 on toilets at McDowell Mountain. That is absolutely false. We have not bought a toilet that I'm aware of since I've been here…there's just a lot of things that are just very, very inaccurate. I think that it's having an effect on people in the community, so the only reason I know about it is because people come to me with concerns.”

The best way to stay informed on local school news is by attending Board meetings and reading meeting agendas and packets posted on fountainhillsschools.org. Meetings are also recorded and can be viewed at any time on the FHUSD YouTube channel.

Jagodzinski can also be available to talk at 480-664-5011, or through email at cjagodzinski@fhacademics.org.