“I’m still getting to know people and really understanding the culture and the history here,” Superintendent Tom Swaninger said. “One of the first things that I really came to realize is the emotional connection that many people of this community have to this property. This is not just a 20-acre lot to people who live around here, this is something that is meaningful, and I wanted to pay that respect with this process.”
After short statements by SOCSD administrators, attendees’ submitted written questions were answered by board members and Swaninger.
“We’re trying to avoid the need for a request for a bond within the next few years. We do have a need for some type of capital to come in to address issues of two aging campuses, an aging bus fleet, security measures,” Swaninger said. “But if we have something like Big Park … it could be that we will not have to request a bond from the taxpayers, if we have an influx of capital from the selling of the property.”
“I would say, imagine that the vote doesn’t go through, then we’re faced with some really tough choices, because this building will continue to deteriorate,” Governing Board Vice President Lauren Robinson said. “We worry about the library being able to be open. I saw them fixing the air conditioning at one point. We then begin to have to start making tough choices, and so do we increase our class sizes and reduce staff to keep this building functioning, or do we shut the whole building down and let it continue to deteriorate so we can provide educational opportunities for our kids?”
“How much does it cost for the district to own [BCPS] each year?” an attendee asked in a written question.
“It’s roughly about $100,000 out of the district’s revenue to run Big Park school; approximately $63,000 of that is in utilities,” Finance Director Stacy Saravo said. “We also have a part-time landscaper here on campus, which is about another $20,000, and then there is another a little bit more in terms of personnel, for staff that work at the district office in West Sedona that need to come out here as well.”
SOCSD did not provide figures for the revenue generated at the site from leasing the property.
As of February, a satellite campus of Christian Faith Fellowship was paying $996.25 per month and the Sedona Public Library was paying $4,591 per month for their respective spaces on the property.
“If the school district does get the approval to sell to a third party, we would be an interested party,” philanthropist Basil Maher said in a previous interview although he did not specify what the Mahers’ plans for the property might be.
During the spring, the Verde Valley Regional Economic Organization nonprofit discussed the feasibility of turning the BPCS into a special taxing district with a community center.
“Special taxing district is quite a process. There are a lot of moving pieces for something like that to take place … we are open to all ideas and all concepts,” Swaninger said.
“If the Big Park property is sold, we would place the funds in a school plant fund,” Saravo said. “This is a requirement from the Arizona Department of Education and the Arizona Revised Statutes. The school plant fund can be used for capital purchases only, so the funds would not be able to be used for the daily operations of the district.”
Board president Randy Hawley stated that the student body of West Sedona School could increase by 300% to 400% and SOCSD would still have enough space. There were 279 students enrolled at WSS as of Sept. 11, while Hawley pointed out that the number of school-age children in the VOC has been dwindling.
While SOCSD approved a non-binding letter of intent from then-Yavapai County District 3 Supervisor Donna Michaels proposing that the county purchase the campus in July 2023, the county took no action on the proposal, which was solely between Michaels and SOCSD, not the whole county board.
Hawley stated that he considers Michaels’ proposal dead.
Swaninger stated that a Jan. 17 decision by the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors to table placing the campus on a county government building space study, followed by the denial of his request the next day to schedule the proposal for discussion, demonstrated a lack of interest on the county’s part.
“To put the blame on a school district is not fair or right, because we followed everything that we agreed to do, and all of a sudden we just stopped hearing from [Michaels] … I don’t think I’ve talked to her since February,” Hawley said.
Michaels’s absence from SOCSD meetings since the July 2023 approval of her letter-of-intent changed with her appearance at this meeting. Michaels repeatedly interjected “that’s not true” from her seat in the audience as board members answered questions.
“It is true,” Hawley said in response to her repeated interruptions.
Michaels was defeated 72% to 28% in her July primary reelection bid by Democratic challenger Nikki Check, who will face Republican Lori Drake on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Michaels will leave office in November. Neither Check nor Drake have voiced interest in continuing Michaels’ failed proposal for the campus.
“I love the concept, but it didn’t go anywhere and we can’t just keep spinning our wheels and spinning our wheels and spinning our wheels,” Hawley said, shortly before Michaels left the meeting 20 minutes before it ended.
“We have to move on,” he said.
District officials have not determined whether they will hold additional public meetings to answer questions regarding the proposed sale.
Hawley, Robinson and Swaninger will present another questionand-answer session on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at the BPCS auditorium in a non-formal meeting format.
The question to permit a future sale of BPCS will appear near the bottom of the general election ballot on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
