Sixty percent of Coconino and Yavapai County voters approved the continuation of the Sedona- Oak Creek School District’s maintenance and operations budget limit through the 2030-31 school year on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
“We were all on pins and needles hoping that it would pass; you never know about these things,” SOCSD Governing Board President Randy Hawley said. “It passed [by] a larger margin of yes votes than what it did the last time.”
In Yavapai County, 2,395 voters, or 60.56% of the total, cast their ballots for the continuation of the override, while 1,560 voters, or 39.44%, were opposed, with county-wide voter turnout in the off-year election of 33.02%.
Coconino County voters approved the continuation with 522, or 62.07%, in favor and 319, or 37.93%, against, with county-wide voter turnout of 30.97%.
The override’s passage by over 60% of voters is the widest margin by which an SOCSD M&O override has passed since March 2004, when the override was renewed with 63.4% approval. In previous elections, apart from a narrow rejection by 32 votes in 2012, the override was approved with the support of closer to 60% of voters, such as in the 2018 election, when it passed by 57.2%. The Yavapai County elections department did not receive any formal arguments against the override for the ballot pamphlet.
“A lot of people went into the process, people before me, and people that I’m working with right now,” SOCSD superintendent Tom Swaninger said. “I feel very grateful, hopeful and very humbled in the responsibility that we have, the trust that the community has bestowed upon us. This vote is something that we don’t take lightly. It’s a great responsibility that we have to provide the best education we can to our students.”
With the approval of the override, the following SOCSD programming will not be affected:
- All-day kindergarten
- Music and fine arts programming
- Physical education
- Campus security and safety measures
- Class size
“[The M&O continuation] allows us to continually improve our efforts in providing the best possible education for all of our students,” Swaninger said. “It is about our district and our kids, but it’s also about growing our community as a whole into all that in can be. Strong public schools mean a strong community and a strong community means strong public school. Everything is connected.”
“I’ve been on the board for seven years and I’ve seen some wonderful growth in the district,” Hawley said. “We’ve hired good people for the superintendent and our administration and some great teachers and everybody’s working together. That’s been very encouraging. And I think what this says to me is that the community recognizes that, too. Good schools are a critical part of having a good community.”
Hawley’s sentiments were shared by Scorpion Booster Club President Heather Hermen, a former SCOSD Governing Board member, who also breathed a sigh of relief after spending the last several months working to build support for the override.
“Now we’re strictly focused on Casino Night, Feb. 10,” Hermen said. “Now is when we do all of our work on getting sponsors and silent auction items, just planning the entire event so we’re off and running on that.”
If the override had been rejected by voters, the current 15% override would have undergone a phased reduction. It would have been decreased by one-third, equivalent to $283,071, during fiscal year 2024-25, and a further one-third reduction would have followed in FY 2025-26. Although the SOCSD Governing Board had the option to request another election next year, the district would have still have needed to implement budget cuts in the meantime.
