Running River School is looking for a new place to call home.
The school, which was created in 2013, has been leasing space for the past six years at its current location — the Sedona-Oak Creek School District’s Dr. Nancy Alexander Administration Building and former Brewer Road school.
The property is broken into an upper building, formerly home to the school district’s administration offices, and a lower portion, which has been home to Running River School and its 75 current students.
In late May, however, SOCSD Superintendent Dennis Dearden notified Running River that the lease would not be renewed for the upcoming school year and that it would have to vacate the premises within 60 days.
“I’ll give you one word — surprised,” said Lupita Pollock, a co-founder who serves as co-director of administration along with Eddie Simmons.
Simmons said up until getting the 60-day non-renewal notice, which both parties can choose to impose, Running River was receiving lease contracts from the district.
“This led us to believe that we’d have this building for next year,” he said.
An unsigned lease for the 2021-2022 academic year was emailed to the school from SOCSD Director of Operations Jennifer Chilton on April 29. It was signed by Pollock and sent back to the district the same day. The next day they received the 60-day notice from Dearden stating the lease would not be renewed but no further explanation.
“I was disappointed,” Simmons said. “It was the very last moment we could have been given this notice. After such a hard year for every school working with children, it was a blow.”
“The disappointment was compounded by the fact we were under the impression that it was going to be renewed,” Pollock said.
Both said they were fully aware the district had been in talks with various entities to lease the upper portion of the facility — as recently as April 18 — but said they were unaware of any specific discussions to rent the entire location.
Knowing that they were growing and needed additional space, the school made an offer to the district for the entire campus of $147,000 a year. They said the district did not make a counter offer.
A donor had stepped forward offering to cover the difference between what the school was paying for the lower portion compared to the entire cost for both buildings. The plan of that donor was to use a small portion of the upper building for their own office space.
This was the first year the district allowed the school to lease a portion of the upper building, approximately 11,000 square feet. The school has been leasing approximately 3,000 square feet of the lower building for $1 a square foot. With the additional space this year, plus utilities, the school was paying around $3,700 a month to the district.
What’s Next
Since the school had outgrown the lower building, and the upper one was not an option, school officials knew they were going to have to seek a temporary facility for their junior high-age kids and thus, a split campus this upcoming school year. But their attempts were to no avail.
Now that the entire school needs to be moved, they are now seeking either one large building to lease or two smaller ones before school begins on Tuesday, Aug. 10.
“As a school and community, we don’t see our school as the four walls around us or the buildings we’re in,” Simmons said. “We see our school as the children, the families and the teachers.”
When describing its philosophy, the school’s website states, “At Running River School … we believe education should foster the ability to think with clarity, feel with compassion and initiate change with confidence. Inspired by Waldorf education, we strive to awaken and develop each child’s individual capacities and support their innate desire to continually discover the world and their place within it.”
“Our long-term vision was always to acquire our own land and build a sustainable campus,” Simmons said. “When this happened we first took it as a shock but as we reflected on it, we began to see it as an opportunity to move more quickly toward that bigger vision.”
They said they also asked Dearden about leasing classrooms in the nearly-empty Big Park Community School in the Village of Oak Creek as well as unused rooms at West Sedona School.
They said they were told those weren’t an option.
Genevie Evirgen, a board member and parent, said Running River recently had a meeting with parents and the feeling she received was that “all hands are on deck” in terms of seeking a new location as well as packing up and moving once one is found.
In addition, the entire district campus must be returned to its initial state prior to Running River’s use.
“This school has been through tests and challenges from the moment it started in someone’s garage,” Simmons said. “It went from five children to five grades in five years. Every year there have been tests and challenges. And with every test or challenge, the school community has become closer and stronger. They say pressure creates diamonds and that’s really what’s happened here.”
SOCSD’s Response
Dearden said the lease with Running River is year-to-year and evaluated annually. This lease has nothing to do with what building they want because other than an exception made this school year, the upper building has never been a long-term option for the school, he said.
“We have always wanted to rent that and in fact, we thought we had it rented a year ago,” he said of the larger building. “But COVID hit and everything was put on hold. We’re not going to change the integrity of the upper building — it’s built for offices, not a school. Clearly, they have outgrown the couple of classrooms in that south building and the upper building is not on the table.”
Chilton said the school approached the district to use two of the rooms in the upper building as part of COVID mitigation and distancing beginning last November. She said they told the school there were no guarantees but that they felt they could accommodate their request through the end of May.
Simmons and Pollock said the request was not made as a result of COVID but rather because they needed additional space.
Dearden, who met with Running River board members, said he feels parents should have a choice of where to send their children to school but that his responsibility is for what’s best for the Sedona-Oak Creek School District. He brought up the issue of whether the lease is not being renewed because he sees them as competition for students and thus funding from the state.
This is an accusation that has been brought up in recent weeks.
“I don’t see them as competition,” he said. “Those kids are looking for a different niche and I understand that. But I’m very protective of this district.
“It’s not about me telling them ‘no’; it’s about what’s best for our district. It’s what I was hired for. I focus on our 750 kids every day and any kid is welcome in our district. They’re a private school and charge tuition. There’s nothing wrong with that. So, that’s not why we’re not renewing the lease. It’s that we have opportunities for that property that will benefit our district.”
Right now, leasing any or all of the property on Brewer Road is the district’s only option. The land agreement states that the property wouldn’t be sold after its completion for 30 years, which expires in another six years. At that point, the district’s Governing Board will have the option of selling it.
“Most people who want that, want the entire property,” Dearden said. “They want all the parking. They don’t want to share. So, it’s really hampered us from locking something in and moving forward.
“Financially, Running River said they can afford that. Maybe they can. We’ve given them an under-market price for that building for quite some time. I don’t know what the value is right now but’s certainly more than $1 a square foot.”
Chilton addressed the issue of sending the unsigned lease the day before the 60-day notice was issued. She said the amended lease she sent was a recalculation of one she had sent on April 2. She had included a utility area in the square footage calculation in error that Running River School did not want to rent. Because the terms have always been on a year-to-year basis, Running River School had asked for the lease quite early, so she sent it as requested.
“In the interim, events made it clear that compatibility between disparate uses of the two buildings in close proximity was going to impede rental at the full potential of the main building, particularly relative to proportionate use of the green space, parking and having an environment conducive to intended use,” she said.
“The lease requires a 60-day notification of non-renewal or termination. There is no obligation for the district to share conversations of interest in the property. Nonetheless, over the years I have kept Running River School apprised of district intentions as promptly as might be appropriate.
“Twice to my knowledge, Running River School spoke directly to other interested parties, reportedly to gauge potential for sub-letting, which was inappropriate. This, along with concern over the condition of the occupied property’s impact upon shared use, prompted the change of intention.”
Dearden concluded by saying, “I wish them well — I want to see all schools succeed. Again, we’re focused on what’s best for our students. If 100 more kids want to join us because they like what’s we’re doing, that’s great. But we have to do what’s best for our kids the same way they’re doing what’s best for their kids.”
For more information on the school, visit runningriverschool.org.
