This is a continuation of a question-and-answer series with the candidates for Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board.

The question posed by staff at The Times this week is: Communication and transparency are key concerns for stakeholders. How could the school board improve in these areas?

Tara Lamar

Clear, concise communication is a hallmark of any successful relationship. Within our district, strong communication pathways are vital to build rapport with the community at large. Through open dialogue and providing simple avenues to impart information, the board can be assured they’re fostering an educational environment that is in alignment with stakeholder voice.

There are a few recommendations I’d propose so the community feels they’re being heard effectively. First, review the protocol of the 3-minute limit to public speakers. While I greatly appreciate the need for time constraints; I feel this extremely short time frame places an immediate barrier between the board and its’ constituents. Under the 3-minute rule I have regularly heard speakers say they feel rushed, cut short and often misconstrue the Board’s true intent of desiring constructive communication. Adjusting the time to 5-minutes relieves that pressure, conveying a more positive experience.

Public instruction on how to effectively interact with the board should be another key focus. Many community members don’t understand the stringent laws limiting the board’s ability to respond to calls to the public, emails, etc. I’d like to see more effort taken to educate the community on how submissions are handled and what to expect when one is presented. The board should look to improve follow up and assuring that every communication is acknowledged. The board should also continue referring stakeholders back to the Superintendent so further discussion, in compliance with ARS statutes, may be provided to acquire sought after answers.

In regard to school sites; I fully support Dr. J launching the Remind app and moving away from the SwiftReach platform. I was honored to sit on the Communication Committee last year and encourage the implementation of our recommendations including efficient use of social media, Falcon Focus and the PTO e-blast.

Madicyn Reid

Leading up to the decision to run for School Board, I championed parent involvement in the school district. I attended all board meetings and School Board events, air councils and committee meetings. I extensively researched current policies, past and present budgets, and board procedures. With the information, I participated in parent’s groups to discuss the needs of our children and our schools.

The current bylaws allow for a great amount of parent involvement and transparency, so changes in regulations or policy are not necessarily needed. To have true transparency and parental engagement there must be a willingness to engage, starting with the School Board, through the superintendent, all the way to the Governor’s office.

Dr. Cain Jagodzinski has shown a willingness to engage and values the input of parents. He has established a monthly meeting specifically for parents and community members to be heard, something I suggested publicly under the previous superintendent. Since coming aboard, Cain has ushered in a new era of openness not seen in the past.

With the proper candidates on the School Board, sharing the same ideology, who truly value parental input, we will continue on this positive path. By demonstrating to parents their input is not only appreciated but respected and necessary, we will raise parental engagement.

We know parents are busy, so we will make providing feedback and communication easy. We will provide results and updates to parents in thorough, efficient communications respecting their time but ensuring they are informed.

Judy Rutkowski

Schools exist to provide a high-quality education to students and to meet, and hopefully exceed, the expectations of the parents in the product that the school provides. For publicly funded schools, there is an obligation to the taxpayers, including those without children in the school, to offer services in a fiscally responsible manner. The Governing Board is responsible for directing the administration to accomplish these purposes.

Communication about specific issues is initially handled best by those directly involved in the concern or question, most often teachers. If needed, communication can then include administration and eventually the Board if no resolution is reached. General communication should utilize a variety of methods depending upon the most effective way to reach parents and students.

Parent-teacher conferences can be offered at times which accommodate parents’ work schedules. Strategies which encourage the interest and active participation of parents should be explored and implemented. Site Councils at each school are in operation and offer another opportunity for communication with parents. Our superintendent holds “Coffee with Cain” sessions and “Coffee with the Principal” is being started for informal connections. Transparency is also an obligation of the school. This includes giving parents full access to review and comment on all curriculum materials used in the classroom. It includes inviting parents to review any proposed new textbooks or other instructional material before the decision to purchase and implement is made. It includes welcoming parents to attend Governing Board meetings. It includes recognizing parents’ primary, critical role in raising their children.

The school administration, teachers and staff must respect that. School policies must support this principle and any departure from policy must be promptly investigated and managed appropriately. Practices in some school districts elsewhere have clearly violated this principle and they cannot be tolerated in FHUSD.

Libby Settle

School districts across America have seen parents attending board meetings and being silenced. Stephen R. Covey stated, “When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant and effective.” As a board member, I would advocate for extending public comment to five minutes or publishing a predetermined sliding scale time based on the number of individuals present, showing the board values stakeholders’ feedback.

Additionally, many parents have mentioned they are not receiving replies to emails sent to the board. While there is a need to provide a unified voice, all emails to the board should be acknowledged. Hosting a monthly or quarterly “Sips with the School Board” where one to two members of the board are rotating through a coffee at the local coffee shop, allowing themselves to be available for feedback, would also increase trust. Community input and accessibility to board members is beneficial. It would be necessary to educate attendees that board members cannot speak on behalf of the board or make decisions in this setting.

Fortunately, FHUSD Governing Board reacted quickly when meetings needed to be moved online and has continued livestreaming the meetings. There is also a YouTube channel where meetings are archived. This provides an additional layer of transparency for those interested.

The district is uploading board packets on the website 24 hours prior to the meeting. This gives the public access to information previously not easily available. Recently, board minutes had been posted regularly after board meetings and should continue to be updated on the website. I believe all of these things should continue to happen and if possible, done in a timelier manner. The board is elected by the community to represent the voice of the town and as a board we need instant and effective communication to rebuild the trust accounts.

Lillian Acker

To ensure transparency and have proper communication, we need to work with school personnel, parents and the school community to educate the public. Since all School Board meetings are public, everyone is welcomed to attend. During such meetings, one is able to see what is being discussed so there are no surprises. We need to keep informing the public about important information through newspaper articles, the Chamber of Commerce, the Town Council and School District activities, as well as the Superintendent and principal coffees.

We can use the Education Foundation and the PTO to reach out to neighbors who do not have children in the district and invite them to music, sports and other school events where they can see the wonderful things being done at FHUSD. Educating the public is the key. The superintendent or School Board members (as his representatives) can attend community meetings to answer any questions that come before the public.

Of course, discussions about personnel are not to be in the open. As by law, any particular personnel problem needs to be done by the superintendent and School Board behind closed doors. Once a decision is made, it can be in the next Board meeting, which, as we know, is public. The facilities coordinator, the School Board and superintendent need to address the rental of our facilities and the fee schedule so that everyone knows it is fairly done.

We want to continue to own these buildings in case our district grows in the future. This, as well as needing additional funds to run our schools, needs to be transparent by informing the public through the various means I mentioned previously.

Jenny Amstutz-Guerrette

Communication and transparency are so important for our community trust. I have considered several ways to improve communication and transparency. Starting with the budget, most people want to know how the school is spending money, but the information that is presented to the board is not easy to consume or understand by the public.

Our budget could be shown graphically on the district website so that everyone can see the distribution of money in our district. If the voters approve the bond in November, we need similar information readily available to show how the bond money is planned to be used, and the accountability to show how it winds up being used.

During the school year, there are topics other than the budget that come up to the board in which parents, teachers and/or community members are interested. Posting text, graphics, and/or videos explaining these topics on the district website might be a great way to communicate easily without requiring everyone to watch meetings or dig through minutes.

Another area we can improve is in communicating the board’s decision process itself. As an engineer, I have found better collaboration with stakeholders if they can follow the logical path of a decision. That includes communicating a clear problem statement, evaluation criteria, options for solving the problem with tradeoffs for each option, and then finally the recommended path with explanation of reasons why. It’s clear, transparent communication like this that will allow the community to understand the decisions the board makes and be able to stand behind those decisions.