The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board has approved an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Paradise Valley School District for the purchase of curriculum geared at online education.

During the Sept. 14 meeting, Superintendent Dr. Patrick Sweeney said that the agreement had been given a thumbs up by attorneys on both sides of the deal, with Paradise Valley’s Governing Board approving the IGA at its most recent meeting.

Sweeney added that he had been working on this collaboration for more than nine months, saying he enthusiastically recommended its approval. It was cleared by a 5-0 vote.

The Board gave this IGA a first read at the Aug. 24 meeting, where it was explained that the agreement would cover eight online courses ranging from English to various math and science classes.

Sweeney explained that he thought this agreement would be a big step forward for the local district, which has not yet taken advantage of the fact that it is accredited to host online courses.

Now approved, FHUSD takes ownership of the purchased courses, which can now be fine-tuned to match the needs of local students.

During the August meeting, Sweeney said his hope is to have a “soft open” during the current semester, allowing students who come into the district late to use the courses to get up to speed. From there, a full launch of the courses is expected to follow next semester.

“It’s a good start to get us up and running with online learning options,” Sweeney said at the previous meeting. “This could be really good for a variety of students.”

From local home school students to students looking to catch up, diversify their learning options or even for students outside of the district, Sweeney said FHUSD could use these eight classes to build a foundation and continue to grow the local district’s education options.

Another added bonus is that the purchase of these courses would prevent FHUSD from having to start its own online curriculum from scratch. Sweeney explained that it has been his experience that it takes several iterations of an online course to really nail it down and find a system that works. The courses that were last week approved by the Governing Board have been through the growing pain process and are several iterations deep.