The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board held a special joint meeting with the Fountain Hills Town Council on Tuesday, April 30, at Town Hall.

The meeting served as a chance for the school board and council to reflect on the partnerships already in place and to discuss possible future collaborations.

Town Manger Grady Miller began the meeting by drawing the board and council’s attention to the Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA) that the two Fountain Hills institutions already have.

The IGAs Miller pointed out included the agreement for the district to use Channel 99 and the use of recreational and athletic facilities.

Vice President of the School Board Dr. Wendy Barnard extended the district’s gratitude for the town’s partnership not only through IGAs, but also more informal practices like Middle School Madness.

It has been nearly a decade since the town and the district have entered into a new IGA, but one was kicked around during the meeting to designate of Fountain Hills Middle School as an emergency shelter.

Fire Chief David Ott was at the meeting to explain that after assessing the three FHUSD schools, it was determined that the middle school would be the best location for shelters.

Ott and Miller confirmed that the town is still in the preliminary stages of designating an emergency shelter, with factors like sources of backup power and the situations in which the shelter would be used still needing to be determined.

The council also talked about creating a Student of the Month award to give to FHUSD students in the same vein as the Kiwanis Terrific Kids program.

Councilwomen Sherry Leckrone suggested that perhaps an emphasis on recognizing students with civic accomplishments to differentiate the council’s program would be a good move.

The other big topic of discussion at the special meeting was school safety.

FHUSD Superintendent Dr. Robert Allen discussed with the board and council the district’s plan to update the schools’ surveillance systems and servers, as well as make changes to points of entry.

These changes and updates, Allen said, are based on MSCO recommendations.

During the discussion of safety Councilman David Spelich asked if FHUSD students drilled for active shooter situations and if the District had considered hiring a security director.

Allen explained that while students don’t take part in those drills, teachers do go through training for an active shooter situation. Allen also said that while they don’t have a security director, the two school resource officers MCSO provides the district help with campus security while also connecting with the students.

The other issue discussed was pedestrian safety. Miller emphasized that, after a year plague with unfortunate pedestrian fatalities including one in front of the high school in October 2018, the town is working to identify areas by school sites that could receive a safety upgrade.

Board President Jill Reed talked about wanting to do a better job of reminding students to use crosswalks, something Miller said the town would also like to see become a focus.