The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board held its first meeting of 2019 on Jan. 10, where members voted on new officer positions and approved offering Interim Superintendent, Dr. Robert Allen, a three-year contract to continue his role, minus the “interim” on the title.

The FHUSD governing board, in executive session, discussed whether to offer Allen the contract or to begin the search for a new superintendent.

“After much discussion the board came to realize that we have a gem here,” newly elected board president Jill Reed said, “And there was no reason to put out our feelers for a new superintendent.”

Reed said the board feels that Allen is a good fit not only for working with the current school board, but also for the district.

“Dr. Allen has been a great asset to the superintendent’s office,” Reed said. “He is very diligent in his structure of the office. He always does his due diligence when bringing something to the board and he keeps on top of the finances. So we felt that he was the right fit for the board and the school district.”

Allen said he was extremely honored by the offer and is looking forward to serving FHUSD for three more years.

With this being the first school board meeting since former board president Edith Stock’s term came to a conclusion, the board voted on a new president and vice president.

Jill Reed was elected for the third time to be the board’s president and Dr. Wendy Barnard was voted vice president.

The board’s next meeting will be on Wednesday, Jan. 23.