The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board will no longer hold work study sessions in an effort to avoid meeting backlog. Board President Jill Reed proposed the change during the work study session that started just before 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 16.

The work study session started after the Board adjourned the business meeting on Aug. 16. The Board has met multiple times this year for a business meeting and work study session back-to-back, which was an uncommon practice before consolidation began.

For the past several years, the Board’s meeting schedule included one business meeting and one work study session per month for most months. The Board doesn’t vote during work study sessions, and several consolidation-related purchase orders were added to business meeting agendas at late notice this year so the projects wouldn’t wait another month for approval to begin.

“The current structure of how the meetings are scheduled is not working for this Board,” Reed said. “Obviously, we’re having long meetings, and things are getting put on at the last minute, and [Board Member] Madicyn [Reid] has brought up that she doesn’t appreciate that. So, I went back into 2018, and prior to Superintendent Kelly Glass, we never had work study sessions.”

According to Reed, before work study sessions, new business was brought up for discussion and then voted on at the next meeting two weeks later. Reed said the work study sessions are basically big information/discussion meetings, which is already a part of the business meeting format.

The Aug. 16 meeting was the first time the Board agenda included future agenda items for Board members and the public to see. Member Reid said she was appreciative of that change, which gives members notice and time to research, and the meeting format change furthers members’ ability to prepare.

“I really appreciate you listening to what I had to say,” Reid said. “We also have that in-between time before an action is brought before us and I think that’s going to be huge.”

President Reed said the Board will have two weeks to consider each action item “90% of the time.” There could always be things that pop up, but Reed thinks getting rid of work study sessions will prevent large purchases from coming in at the last minute for approval.

Business meetings start at 6 p.m., and work study sessions were held at 5 p.m. in the old format. The Board will vote to make the time of all meetings uniform at the next meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 6 p.m.

All FHUSD Governing Board meetings are held in the district learning center and are livestreamed and recorded on the FHUSD YouTube channel.