The nine member board of directors of Low-Income Student Aid nonprofit voted to expand to Sedona Red Rock High School on Oct. 22.
“They’re a wonderful organization and wonderful people are running the organization and a board that truly has the best interest in mind of all of the families here in Verde Valley, and their track record is excellent in supporting all the students at the schools that they work with,” Sedona-Oak Creek School District Superintendent Tom Swaninger said. “It’s a win for our district, and it’s a win for the community.”
Established in 2017 as a pilot program at Oak Creek School in Cornville, LISA fulfilled 186 direct student aid requests during fiscal year 2024, covering everything from medical bills to lunch debt or other expenses that improve the student’s quality of life. LISA has so far operated at Cottonwood Community School, Dr. Daniel Bright School and Oak Creek School and assisted students at Mingus Union High School and West Sedona School.
“In the schools that we are in now, we follow our students that are promoted from the elementary school into high school … and what we don’t want to do is provide hope but then have that hope [be] non-existent once you’re a freshman in high school,” LISA treasurer Eric Wyles said. “We’re thinking the long-term costs are going to be $20,000 to $25,000 per campus per year.”
Swaninger and Wyles will meet in the coming weeks to finalize the details of this expansion, with a preliminary discussion scheduled for Nov. 14. The organization’s goal is to establish a new LISA aid committee at the school, which will consist of SRRHS Principal Heather Isom and three other staff members selected by her team.
“There is no formal argument that’s needed from our board,” Swaninger said “But I have spoken with our board, they appear to be in favor of [adding SRRHS] as well.
“People don’t realize that some of our students come from homes that are low-income and they can hardly keep food on the table,” SOCSD Governing Board President Randy Hawley said. “We’ve even had kids that are a family of four or five, they’re living in their car, and [so] any help they can get is greatly appreciated.”
Swaninger said that SOCSD had 695 students enrolled as of Nov. 1, 21 of whom were eligible for the federal McKinneyVento Homeless Assistance Act.
LISA recently sponsored the West Sedona School Parent-Teacher Association Wildcat Carnival on Oct. 26, providing 280 ride wristbands valued at $20 apiece to all WSS students.
to all WSS students. “We’re in the process of finishing up a rollout of a new website,” Wyles said. “That is going to have a new logo and the site is going to be more user-friendly. It’s going to have a revised aid request form, so instead of having separate forms for all campuses, we’re going to have one form.”
“We do have plans for expansion as we raise more funding and we get the word out about LISA. We have also had some wonderful volunteers step up to help LISA,” Wyles said. “We now have a marketing and a fundraising team that we did not have before … If the permits get through in time … LISA is going to be doing the concessions at the Queen Nation concert that’s going to be held on Nov. 30 at the Sedona Performing Arts Center.”
For more information about Low Income Student Aid, visit oakcreeklisa.org.
