FHUSD Efforts with Recent Hate Crime Behavior

The recent hate crime behavior and vandalism by current FHHS students against our community and FHHS classmates places a responsibility on our school district to use this situation as a "teachable moment." We have actively sought to intervene with the parents/guardians and students on both sides in order to utilize our education mission to make a difference for the future.

As of this date FHUSD Staff has:
1. Met with Town of Fountain Hills, FHUSD Board of Directors and Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation leaders
2. Met and communicated with parents/guardians and students directly involved in this situation
3. Met and communicated with the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office Staff
4. Met with area Anti-Defamation League Staff to discuss the situation and facilitate possible strategies/programs including peer programs and Holocaust enrichment materials to our district and state curriculum
5. Applied for a grant that would bring two one-day "Respect" retreats for our freshman and sophomore classes

We take our role in being the leader in intervening and preventing this type of behavior very seriously. This will be an on going effort for our staff but we can make a real difference in helping our greater school community to honor and celebrate our diversity. We ask for your support and input on this important initiative.

Update - President's Sept 8th Speech

On Monday FHUSD will be provided a copy of the President's September 8th speech to students. We will post ASAP on the front of our FHUSD website. I would assume it will also be readily available on many media outlets.

I will also send the U.S. Dept. of Education's K-6 lesson and 7-12 lesson and a copy of the speech in a pdf file to anyone that wants to e-mail me at bmyhr@fhusd.org

This is difficult situation for all school districts in balancing "respect for the Office of the President" and those seeing it as a political act that has no bearing on their child's education. Please communicate as needed if you choose your child to opt out of their schoolhouse viewing options.

President's Speech to Public School Students

On September 8th at 12:00 PM EST, American public schools have been asked to have President Obama address students on the importance of education. The television speech outline speaks to challenging students to working hard, setting educational goals and taking responsibility for their education. This summary is on www.ed.gov/adminstration. This was done once before by President George W. Bush on October 2, 1991.

We have had some phone calls expressing concern on allowing this event to happen along with media reporting calls by some political commentators to stop districts from viewing this speech.
As a district we will respect the Office of the President and telecast the speech appropriate to our learning levels and curriculum. By policy we will also notify parents so they can have their student opt out of this televised speech. Parents as the students first teacher have the right to choose the appropriateness of this for their child.

President Obama's Speech to Public Schools September 8th

On September 8th at 12:00 PM EST, public schools have been asked to have their students listen to President Obama.