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Fountain Hills Unified board launches superintendent search, orders community survey and advisory committees
Summary
Facing a vacancy in the superintendent post, the Fountain Hills Unified School governing board directed staff to circulate a community survey, form advisory groups of parents, students and staff, and hold a special meeting next week to review results and set next steps.
The Fountain Hills Unified School governing board voted to begin a public search for a new superintendent and directed staff to solicit community, staff and student input through a survey designed to identify desired qualifications and priorities. Speaker 3 moved the discussion into a clear timeline, and board members agreed to use survey results to shape an advisory committee and the job posting.
Why it matters: The board’s decision sets the formal timeline for replacing the district’s top administrator and commits the district to public engagement and a special-meeting review of community input.
During the meeting Speaker 1 said the process must move quickly: "It needs to be done by April," and urged a short survey to collect priorities from staff, parents and community members. Speaker 5 offered to provide sample questions from other districts and to help run the instrument, saying the district could have a draft out by Friday and deliver the results to the board for review. "If you want us to, it's your choice, whichever way you wanted to do," Speaker 5 said, offering staff support for creating and distributing the survey.
Board members discussed the survey format and advisory structure. Speakers emphasized keeping most questions concise (yes/no or short Likert items) with a single optional open-ended question; Speaker 4 recommended one open-ended field for additional comments. Speaker 2 proposed forming advisory working groups representing students, staff and parents to assist with review and outreach.
Timing and procedure agreed at the meeting: the board signaled intent to have a draft survey circulated by Friday, set a special meeting for next Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. to review results, and to close the survey the morning of that meeting (targeted close at 10:00 a.m.). Speaker 5 noted the district attorney can prepare or review contract language and job posting templates so the process can proceed to advertising the vacancy once the board approves the posting.
What the board approved and did not approve: The board agreed on process and scheduling but did not at this meeting adopt a job posting or hire a search firm; those actions were left for future meetings. Speaker 1 said the board will post the job and solicit candidates publicly once a job description and posting are prepared.
Next steps: The board will (1) finalize survey questions, (2) publish the survey and advisory committee solicitation, (3) review survey results at a special public meeting next Wednesday and (4) decide whether to post the job and begin candidate solicitation at a subsequent meeting.
