Frustration reached a boiling point for McDowell Mountain Elementary School stakeholders last week and nearly 50 people gathered to show and voice their displeasure at the School Board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 8. The parents and staff started to assemble in the parking lot 20 minutes before the meeting began.

Rumors spread like wildfire on Wednesday afternoon that McDowell Mountain Principal Dr. Shelly Jensen had been fired. That was the tipping point that drew people to the school board meeting. The reality of the situation, however, was that Dr. Jensen chose to resign, and the board could not discuss that fact with the parents who came.

“I resigned from McDowell Mountain Elementary School on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021,” Dr. Jensen said in a text to The Times. “This decision was not one that was made lightly; however, I felt that resigning was the appropriate decision for me and my family. I was hired, by the FHUSD, last spring and was extremely proud to be the Elementary School Principal at McDowell Mountain Elementary School. The students are amazing, and the staff are some of the most dedicated people that I have ever worked with in education. We have had challenges this year; however, when students are the center of the work you do, you keep going for them!”

The Governing Board is required to comply with open meeting law. One aspect of the law requires that board meeting agendas be set and published for the public to access at least 24 hours before the meeting begins. Since Dr. Jensen resigned less than 24 hours before the meeting, the board could not legally discuss the personnel change. This led to tension in the room and a message from the board on Thursday, Dec. 9, to the McDowell Mountain community.

“In the board's adherence to these requirements, it may appear as though we do not truly hear the statements shared during public comment in board meetings, give weight to the words, or even share in your concerns,” the Board’s message read. “Believe us, we do.”

Four parents made public comments at the board meeting. Each parent had something different to say, but each comment received a round of applause. One parent shared his concern over teaching consistency. When an elementary teacher left the district earlier this semester, Dr. Jensen sat down with the parent and his wife for an hour to comfort them and assure that his child would have another certified teacher very soon. Dr. Jensen did find a replacement, but the parent is now worried how the district can replace the principal in December.

The other comments were similar, sharing concerns and frustration over staff retention. One parent with staff management experience questioned the work environment at the school district. The two biggest questions of the night were, how many more teachers will leave in the next week, and what are the leaders and other administrators in the district doing to fix the carousel of staff?

Dr. Jensen’s resignation was not on the agenda, but four other certified staff members had their resignations approved by the board last Wednesday. Kindergarten teacher Melissa Miller and fifth grade teacher Nicole Moreno were each hired this previous summer to work for FHUSD and resigned before the end of their first semester.

Irena Evans resigned, and her information has already been removed from the FHUSD website and Facebook page. Britta Brelo also resigned, and she has spent multiple years in Fountain Hills. Brelo was named Teacher of the Month during October 2017, when she taught at Fountain Hills Charter School.

Other business

The board did discuss items other than resignations last week. This year’s Grandperson’s Day at the elementary school had 318 grandparents in attendance, and it was the largest in seven years. The sophomore class of the high school student government set the “Hoopcoming” dance for Feb. 12, and the junior class government has set prom for April 30. The board also approved the Robotics Club at the middle school and adopted the new sex education curriculum.

The board spent the hour before the business meeting in executive session evaluating Superintendent Kelly Glass. The Board also heard another update on facility upgrades and watched a new presentation on IXL and Star Reading programs. Jeff Markle, Fountain Hills Middle School principal, gave the presentation because the programs were tested at the middle school last year. Markle was able to explain the results from all three schools and put them in context.

The board’s next meeting will be a business meeting at the Learning Center on Jan. 12, 2022, at 6 p.m. The Times will continue to investigate and report any new developments to this story.