There were new faces at all levels across each of the three district schools this past August, and some other changes besides staff and students. Last week, The Times recapped some of the biggest stories from the school district’s spring semester. This week, The Times will focus on the major school events from the fall semester.

Override election

The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board voted to call for a District Additional Assistance (DAA) Override and a Maintenance & Operations (M&O) Override on May 12. This past November, the M&O Override narrowly passed, but the DAA Override failed to pass by 287 votes.

The last DAA Override for FHUSD was passed in 2014 and brought $750,000 to the district. This type of funding usually goes to areas of technology updates, facility renovations, textbooks, student transportation and furniture.

The DAA Override passed in 2014 will cover the 2022-23 school year, but the Board discussed restarting efforts for a new DAA Override election, either in January or February of 2022.

The M&O Override provides for things like full-day kindergarten, teacher salary increases, professional development and student programs.

‘A+’ high school

Fountain Hills High School was awarded an A+ distinction on May 19, 2021, by the Arizona Education Foundation. The recognition was announced in September 2020, but due to COVID, the celebration was postponed.

Part of the application process is a campus tour, but judges could not visit the campus due to safety precautions. A group of students used a school-issued Chromebook to show off the Fountain Hills campus virtually, providing the final piece of the application process before consideration for the recognition.

Program update

Prior to the 2021-22 school year, Superintendent Kelly Glass released a statement providing updates on staff and programs in Fountain Hills Unified School District. The statement provided an update on new CTE and AVID programs, which The Times recapped in a recent issue.

In an effort to be transparent, Glass explained that Fountain Hills High School has 22 full-time staff, and four teachers retired after last year. A number of other staff left for various reasons, but FHUSD had replaced most openings by the statement’s release over the summer.

Emails received by Glass over the summer led her to believe that parents worried the music and arts programs were going to be eliminated. This was not the case, and Glass clarified that in her statement. Glass also heard concerns that Advanced Placement (AP) courses were going to be eliminated, and she corrected that, stating, “All previous AP and AP Capstone courses will be available to students at the high school next year. We are also looking at expanding the AP offerings for the 2022-23 school year, specifically in visual arts.”

PTO update

Jelaine Goldapper took over as FHUSD PTO president shortly after the new school year began in early August. Goldapper started her two-year term with high goals, one being that she wanted to resume in-person events.

The Apex Fun Run in September was the first PTO event this year, and it raised $19,985 for teachers and students. That was a record-breaking fundraiser for the PTO, and they continued a strong fundraising year by raising $9,300 over the two weeks of the Holiday Pop-Up Shop fundraiser in December.

School in 2021

FHUSD schools began classes on Aug. 10, and the staff across the three schools worked throughout the summer to prepare. The administrators emphasized the “unified” in Fountain Hills Unified School District, and they held a face-to-face meeting for all staff over the summer.

The Times spoke with superintendent Glass and all three principals at the end of the first quarter. The school year did not start exactly as expected, as COVID still affected the daily lives of students and teachers. The principals hoped their staff could focus solely on students’ education, but they were at least more experienced dealing with health and safety challenges this year.

The administrators had three districtwide initiatives to focus on this year: Beyond Textbooks, Schools Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) and Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS). Beyond Textbooks is the online curriculum framework with all Arizona educational standards and assessments. Schools PLP is the online teaching platform, and PBIS was started at the elementary and high school this year after being tested at the middle school last year.

Alumni group

Back in September, Sof Wycklendt visited her old stomping grounds for a football game and came up with the idea to form the Fountain Hills Alumni Association. Wycklendt graduated from Fountain Hills High School in 2021, and months later she’s connected with alumni from nearly every graduating class.

Wycklendt spoke with current staff and city leadership, about forming the group. This past November, she put together a happy hour at All-American Grill for the association’s first meeting. Wycklendt is continuing to plan events and reunion dinners, and recently she spoke with the new culinary chef, Jasun Zakro, about using the culinary facilities for future events.

Music program

Classes began in August, but Fountain Hills music students did not have a full-time teacher until October. Initially, Michael Fox was hired to teach high school band, but he had to pull double duty for a few weeks since the middle school was also without a full-time music teacher at that point in the year. Shortly after Fox arrived in Fountain Hills, Greg Caruso was hired to teach at the middle school.

Fox and Caruso have history together, dating back to their high school days in Gainesville, Fla. Fox went to the University of Florida, taught at middle and high schools around Florida and South Carolina, but then he moved to Mexico to teach at an international school. Fox also taught in China and Brazil, while Caruso stayed closer to home. After college, Caruso moved back to his home state of New Jersey, and he taught in schools and did professional lessons up and down the east coast.

Reunited in Fountain Hills, the two band directors were excited to get to work. The middle school band performed its first concert in over a year this past December, and both directors are interested in a joint concert next spring.

Student Store

Within one semester of PBIS implementation at Fountain Hills High School, staff and administrators noticed plenty of positive behavior and encouraging signs to the program’s success. Students earned Falcon Feathers for exemplary behavior since the school year began, and starting Dec. 1, students were able to exchange their feathers for prizes.

The high school renovated the student store, which had been run by parent volunteers in the past. Now student volunteers operate the store twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Students can buy drinks, snacks, clothing, and backpacks in the store. They only have to save up their Falcon Feathers and spend them wisely. The student store opened on the same day that the school introduced the Falcon Prize Wheel. Students exchange a feather for a chance at prizes, extra feathers and more.

Resignations

The last month of 2021 proved to be busy for both staff and students around FHUSD. Students prepared for finals and administrators worked hard to replace six open staff positions.

Four teachers submitted resignation letters from Oct. 29 to Dec. 3, with at least a week in between each of the four resignations. Approval of the four resignations was listed as action items on the Governing Board’s agenda for the Dec. 8 meeting but discussing the resignation of McDowell Mountain’s principal was not. Since Dr. Jensen resigned on Dec. 8, the day of the Board meeting, the Board couldn’t discuss it at all.

The most recent resignation came from the high school soccer coach, who is relocating for another job out of state. The Times recently acquired a copy of a FHUSD Contract of Employment, and in it is stated that “in the event that the Professional Staff fails to report to his/her assignment or resigns from employment with the District, effective prior to the end of the term of this contract, employee agrees to pay the District the amount of One Thousand Dollars Five Hundred ($1,500.00) as liquidated damages, and not as penalty.”

This $1,500 fee will help cover expenses for substitutes and securing a full-time replacement, but the Governing Board may waive the fee if circumstances allow for it. At this time, only one of the resignation fees was confirmed to be waived by request. Since these are personnel matters, further details could not be provided at this time.