Dr. Robert Allen is not a new face in the Fountain Hills Unified School District. He has been a part of the Falcon family for the past three years, acting as the district’s assistant superintendent of business operations. This year, however, Allen is dropping “assistant” from his title.

After former superintendent, Dr. Patrick Sweeny, announced his retirement in March, the FHUSD Governing board hired Allen to fill the role of district superintendent for one year.

One of the benefits for the district in hiring Allen is that he is able to continue what Sweeny had previously started, as it was Sweeny who brought Allen into the district.

“The offer certainly came as a surprise,” Allen said. “I think it is good for the district because we get to continue. I know what Dr. Sweeny began, the initiatives he introduced, and I’d like to continue a lot of those. So the district doesn’t have to necessarily transition a new person into the role.”

Along with three years of experience in the district and a deep understanding of the district’s finances, Allen also brings over 30 years of experience as a teacher and administrator.

Allen is from the state of Rhode Island. He graduated with a degree not in mathematics, but in music education.

“I’m not sure what it was (that sparked my interest in music),” Allen said. “I played in the band when I was in high school and I was pretty good. Of the subjects I was thinking about to go to college for, music interested me the most. I ended up sticking with it and got my degree.”

Allen still plays music today. He plays saxophone in the Scottsdale Community band.

After graduating college Allen and his wife moved out to Arizona in search of better job opportunities.

“I moved here in 1979,” Allen said. “I had graduated from college and the economy in New England was slow at that point in time. I had gotten some short-term music jobs but that full-time job, I couldn’t seem to get. The opportunities out here were much better; I got a job in Bowie within two months of moving out.”

Allen was “the” music teacher in Bowie, a small southeast community of less than 500 people.

After a couple months working in Bowie, Allen moved to the Paradise Valley Unified School District, where he would remain until Sweeny asked him to come to Fountain Hills.

Allen still taught music at Paradise Valley but, after six years, he started looking to other subjects he could teach to provide himself a little more job security.

“Even then music programs were being discussed when the topic of cutting or cutting back came up,” Allen said. “So I went and got credentialed in math. I ended up teaching math from 1986 or ‘87 to 2003.”

As Allen taught the subject throughout the last decade of the 20th century, he was also attending classes to receive his Master’s in secondary education and eventually a Doctorate of Education and Administration.

After receiving his doctorate in 2001, Allen switched over from teaching to administrative work. His first role in administration was as an assistant principal in Paradise Valley and he eventually climbed the rungs to become director of assessment.

Allen would work as Paradise Valley’s director of assessment for nine before he was offered a job in Fountain Hills.

Even though Allen is 10 years removed from teaching, he still considers it the most fun he has had in education.

“I really like teaching,” Allen explained. “I have always said to anybody that teaching is more fun than you can actually imagine. There are challenges but I had more fun with students than I ever had.”

Allen believes that all of his years of experience in the classroom give him a better understanding of the real life effects the budget has.

“I think I bring a mathematical background, obviously,” Allen said. “But I also think I bring a very strong educational purpose to how we spend money. For every classroom dollar we spend, I have actually been a part of how that money is spent. I have actually experienced it.”

In his year as superintendent, Allen plans on updating the Fountain Hills schools’ AC units as well as working to make sure the school is as secure as possible.