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Home My WebLink About2010.0311.TCJM.Minutes A TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL JOINT SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL AND THE FOUNTAIN HILLS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT March 11,2010 Mayor Schlum called the meeting to order at 7:40 a.m. Present from Town of Fountain Hills: Jay T. Schlum, Mayor; Mike Archambault, Dennis Brown, Dennis Contino, Ginny Dickey and Henry Leger, Councilmembers; Rick Davis, Town Manager; Andrew McGuire, Town Attorney;Ted Armbruster,Municipal Judge; Lt. Brian Jakowinicz and Sgt.Jerry Funk, Maricopa County Sheriff's Office; Katie Decker, Community Affairs and Media Relations Administrator; Tom Ward, Public Works Director; Mark Mayer, Parks and Recreation Director; Richard Turner, Planning and Zoning Director; Samantha Coffman, Community Center/Senior Services Director; and Shaunna Williams, Recording Secretary. Councilmember Cassie Hansen was not present. Present from Fountain Hills Unified School District: Dr. Bill Myhr, Superintendent; Tim Leedy, Assistant Superintendent; Dr. C.T. Wright, Board President; Melanie Anderelli, Board Vice President; Helen Howard, Board Member; and Dana Saar, Board Member. Board Member Patricia McNett-Green was not present. Mayor Schlum invited each individual present to offer a self-introduction. Agenda Item: Online Education Dr. Myhr stated that the district is looking into online education and has created a Technology Committee. FHUSD would like to launch online classes next year and online classes may be expanded to the citizenry. Discussion ensued about academic rigor, the district's new policy for accepting online credits, and truancy enforcement. FHUSD will require that certain classes must take place on campus in order to achieve a diploma. Mr. Saar pointed out that FHUSD is legally responsible for every student in the district whether or not the student is registered with them. Ms. Anderelli stated that a teacher/monitor/overseer is critical to an online program. Agenda Item: Relationship with Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Funk stated that Midnight Madness is still in progress and trips include bowling, ice skating, baseball games, and other activities. The School Resource Officer is working on arrests for marijuana possession and truancy at the middle school. She is also monitoring the "sweep room" for truancy violations and is occasionally checking restaurants during lunch. Sgt. Funk stated that MCSO is part of the drug coalition and has stepped up enforcement. Dr. Myhr noted that a "hosting ordinance" could be very important as some adults feel that alcohol consumption is a rite of passage. Agenda Item: FHUSD Initiatives and Challenges Dr. Myhr referred to the 2009-2010 Board of Director Goals (copy attached). He mentioned that that the district needs more and better communication systems. In addition to their website, FHUSD has added Twitter and Linkedln accounts. The district is also printing programs of what is happening in school. FHUSD would like to implement the ability for parents to go online to see how students are doing, e.g., attendance, grades and progress in certain areas. Dr. Myhr noted that a software called ConnectEd allows mass communication with parents and the community so that in emergencies parents can be told what is going on, while freeing up administration and law enforcement to do their jobs without dealing with frantic parents. z:\council packets\2010\r4-1-2010\100311mthusd.doc Page 1 of 3 Discussion ensued about the possibility of televising Board meetings and the resources needed to do so. IWO Agenda Item: Ongoing projects Mr. Leedy reported the condition of the state budget is not favorable to education and outlined potential funding impacts. He emphasized the importance of the sales tax vote with respect to education, noting that schools will see very drastic reductions if the sales tax does not pass. Judge Armbruster stated that Teen Court is finishing up its 7th year and that Teen Court's annual trip to the State Capitol is coming up soon. He noted that participation by Middle School students has expanded this year. He also mentioned that Fountain Hills will host regional advanced attorney training. Tom Ward reported that Public Works is presently working on various sidewalk projects that impact schools, i.e., the Del Cambre project and design of the middle school project. Mr. Ward also stated that his department will be contacting FHUSD on potential implementation of a "Safe Routes to School" program through MAG. Mr. Saar stated that a safe way to get students to school is by riding buses. Discussion ensued about potential ways to promote bus ridership. Enhancing bus stop safety was discussed as a potential joint project. Mr. Mayer reported that work on joint parks has been in progress for the last couple of years. He noted that ARRA funding required shovel-ready projects and applying for those funds was therefore not possible. He stated conceptual design for the joint park has been done and that funds for detailed design are being requested in the capital projects budget this year. He stated the joint park would create additional park space, space for school sports activities, open space for neighborhoods, and space for youth league practices. He noted that construction funding will need to be coordinated between FHUSD and the Town. Agenda Item: Realtor 101 and State Centennial Ms. Decker noted that the Scottsdale Area Association of Realtors group has a program for their members to obtain continuing education credits that typically involves eight modules over four weeks. She proposed that the Town, FHUSD, Fountain Hills Rural/Metro, MSCO, Chaparral City Water and the Sanitary District partner to supply a curriculum and locations for this program in order to educate realtors about the town. She stated that venues could possibly include the Fire Station, Sanitary District and Learning Center. Following discussion, Dr. Myhr concurred with the idea and suggested that Ms. Decker coordinate with Jeanette Simmons at FHUSD. Ms. Decker also noted that the curriculum developed could serve as the potential foundation for a citizens' academy in the future. Ms. Decker reported the State Centennial will be celebrated from September of 2011 through December of 2012. She indicated that the state would like to create an umbrella of centennial projects. She stated that the Town would like to form a stakeholders group to brand existing projects as official centennial events. FHUSD indicated willingness to participate in that group. Agenda Item: FHUSD New Board Goals and Town Goals '44 With respect to Board of Director Goals, Dr. Myhr indicated great strides have been made with the Ft. McDowell Yavapai Nation. He noted that the biggest goal is to create a data warehouse to allow z:\council packets\2010\r4-1-2010\100311mfhusd.doc Page 2 of 3 real-time adjustments to instruction, which would allow FHUSD to know levels of academic achievement before AIMS testing. Mr. Davis reviewed Council Goals for FY 10-11 and noted that this year the goals focused on outcomes in order to spend budget dollars appropriately. He noted that the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission has determined eight focus areas for the Strategic Plan Update and that Council goals have been created to align with these focus areas. He pointed out that partnerships are a vital element in accomplishing these goals. Mayor Schlum pointed out that people need to be invited to participate in bettering the community. He briefly recapped the meeting and thanked the group for their participation. The meeting adjourned at 9:34 a.m. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS By I . Schlum, Mayor ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: Shaunna Williams, Recording Secretary CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Special Joint Session of the Fountain Hills Town Council and the Fountain Hills Unified School District on the 11t1i day of March, 2010. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 1st day of April, 2010. Shaunna Williams, Recording Secretary L z:\council packets\2010\r4-1-2010\100311mfhusd.doc Page 3 of 3 J J