Running River School is hoping — with approval from the city of Sedona — to find a new, temporary home for its dozens of students and staff.
On Tuesday, Sept. 21, officials from the school will appear before the Sedona Planning and Zoning Commission at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall to request a conditional use permit. The request is to use a portion of the Christ Center Wesleyan Church, located at 580 Brewer Road, for classes and administrative offices for the private school.
“Running River School is looking forward to the upcoming meeting regarding our CUP application,” co-administrator Lupita Pollock said. “We appreciate the opportunity to speak with the city of Sedona and its residents about the importance of supporting vibrant and varied educational options for the children of our local community. We are grateful for the generous support of Christ Center Wesleyan Church.”
The school currently has an enrollment of around 60 students in grades 1 through 8, as well as less than 10 full-time employees.
In a letter to residents near the church, Pollock and co-administrator Eddie Simmons wrote, “For the past six years we have happily been renting the school district buildings on Brewer Road. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, the lease was not renewed. With very little notice we were put in a position of finding a new location for a school. As many of you know there are very few appropriately zoned and/or affordable commercial locations in Sedona appropriate for school children.
“The generous stewards of Christ Center Wesleyan Church have offered to temporarily rent a part of their property to us until we are able to secure a more permanent solution, which we are also working on simultaneously.”
The letter goes on to state that in general the children will be utilizing the indoor spaces on the church property. The regularly-scheduled outdoor time in designated areas will be from 10:45 to 11:15 a.m. and from 12:45 to 1:10 p.m.
A normal school day is from 8:15 a.m. to 3:10 p.m, Monday through Friday with minimal after-school activity on the grounds.
The Waldorf-inspired private 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 at the time 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.
The district’s administration building was recently leased to the city of Sedona for its courtroom building and offices.
