The Fountain Hills Unified School District Governing Board held an open meeting this past Wednesday, Sept. 25, where members discussed upcoming field trips and their goals for the school year.

Financial report

Superintendent Dr. Robert Allen intended to present the board with the audited finical report this meeting, but circumstances outside of his control prevented that.

“The Arizona Department of Education sends out official Excel sheets and instructions that must be utilized to complete the [audited financial report],” Dr. Allen said. “Their intent was to send them out at the beginning of September. They were only made available last Tuesday night.”

Dr. Allen also needs to confirm additional finabcial data with the County School Superintendent’s Office, but they are unavailable to meet until Oct. 7.

Dr. Allen now plans on presenting the board the AFR at its next meeting on Oct. 16.

Field trips

The board discussed three field trips for Fountain Hills High School and Fountain Hills Middle School students.

The FHHS field trip is for the marching band, which will travel up to Northern Arizona University on Oct. 19 to compete in the annual Band Day.

The two remaining field trips are for FHMS with the first being the annual trip to Astro Camp from May 1-3.

The final trip is a new one that is replacing the normal Camp Surf field trip. It is a trip to Catalina Classic Cruise in Long Beach, Calif., from April 20-22.

Board goals

The board closed out the information and discussion portion of the meeting with its goals for the 2019-20 school year.

The board added one new goal this year, bringing their total up to five.

The goals are as follows:

*Support and promote policies and practices that increase student achievement and inspire all students to reach their maximum potential.

*Support, promote, and champion the district’s success and excellence.

*Build and sustain a collaborative pre-K through 12 learning environment that meets the needs of individual students, their families and our community.

*Implement and maintain responsible stewardship of district funds and other resources, guided by the best interests of our students.

*Create and maintain an environment for students, staff and visitors that nurtures health, safety and security for all.

Due to the upcoming fall break, the governing board’s next meeting will be on Oct. 16.