The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board met Wednesday, Oct. 27, for a short business meeting and a work study session. The meeting was livestreamed on YouTube and can be found on the channel “FHUSD YOUTUBE.” Previously the Board had streamed meetings on Google Meet.

All Board members were present, and they elected to approve the 2021-22 clubs for FHMS and FHHS before adjourning the business meeting. The work session agenda included updates on the Override election, strategic planning, staffing, self-evaluation and policy readings.

Maricopa County has received 4,449 ballots for the Override election as of Oct. 26, and several discussions were tabled until the result of the Override election is clear.

One such discussion was about strategic planning. The Board discussed the possibility of paying a national company $10,000-$30,000 to help tailor a strategic plan for Fountain Hills’ schools. The Board ultimately decided it could not justify spending that much money without trying other routes first. Board members stated a desire to cooperate with retired educators and superintendents in the local area to design a strategic plan and FHUSD is asking for volunteer support.

The Board discussed the staff shortage at FHUSD and around the state, noting that 25% of all teaching vacancies across Arizona remain unfilled and 55% of the vacancies were filled by staff that do not meet state certifications. There are currently 15 positions unfilled at FHUSD, most recently including the assistant principal position at the high school.

Superintendent Kelly Glass said they are looking for more ways to hire teachers, including hiring sites like LinkedIn and Indeed, and a new Twitter account that is advertising job openings. The links to all the pages will be accessible on the new District website, which is expected to be finished by the end of this year. Glass will also attend a job fair next February in the hopes of finding new staff.

Board members submitted their self-evaluations before the meeting and discussed the five categories therein at the meeting; its relationship with the Superintendent, relationship with community, relationship with each other, relationship with school staff and its relationship with the schools’ financial management.

The Board agreed on many points, but members said they also understood they bring different perspectives and won’t agree on everything. They all want to be as transparent as possible with the community, either explaining everything clearly or explaining why they can’t speak on a subject.

Through years of service in Fountain Hills or elsewhere, the Board recognized a recurring issue is communication over finances. Glass has done “Budget 101,” community talks in other districts, and she volunteered to do something similar in Fountain Hills.

Board members recognized they have fallen away from certain pre-Covid activities and would like to resume some, if not all, of those practices. Board members used to do school visits and read the new student textbooks, but online lessons have made that difficult. Glass was also hired after the Covid pandemic began, so she has spent all her time in Fountain Hills working around safety protocols.

The Board did it’s first reading of policy advisories 712-715, and Regulation DD-R to end the meeting. DD-R focuses on how the Board collects time and effort logs from staff that are paid from federal funds. Both policy readings will be action items at the next meeting on Nov. 10.

Policy advisories 712-715 regard the Superior Court ruling by Katherine Cooper that House Bill 2928 is unconstitutional. Because of that ruling, the Board had to change its policy to be in line with public policy. While the board removed language prohibiting mask mandates and vaccine requirements, the Governing Board doesn’t intend to implement masks or start requiring the vaccine.

Due to Thanksgiving, the Board only has one scheduled meeting for the month of November. The Board will meet at the FHUSD Learning Center and start its work study session on Nov. 10 at 5:30 p.m. The Board will begin its business meeting at 6:30 p.m. and go until its conclusion.