The Sedona-Oak Creek School District Governing Board made the unanimous decision to enter into contract negotiations with Tom Swaninger, Ph.D., principal of Eastmark High School in Queen Creek School District, to become the new superintendent of SOCSD at its meeting on Friday, June 23.
“I’m waiting for the contract offer to come in,” Swaninger said on Saturday, June 24. “It’s probably going to be early next week. [SOCSD is] working with the attorneys on the specifics of that. I can’t say one way or the other until the contract comes in. [But] I am incredibly interested and incredibly humbled that the board has confidence in me leading the school district.”
The listed salary for the position was between $120,000 and $130,000, placing it near the top of superintendent salaries in Yavapai County for a relatively small district, SOCSD Governing Board President Randy Hawley said.
The board made the decision after an hour of private deliberation following a finalist forum attended by about 40 community members at the West Sedona School, where Swaninger made his pitch to the community along with fellow finalist Katrina Sacco, Ph.D., director of curriculum and assessment at the Payson School District.
“I’ve been married for 23 years. We were high-school sweethearts,” Swaninger said, speaking of his wife while introducing himself at the forum. “We were dating for a long time — at least I consider it a long time in 1992 when we first started dating. She’s an English teacher. I know my bias, but she is one of the most talented, dedicated educators I have had the privilege of working with.”
Swaninger is a father to three daughters. The oldest is a freshman at Arizona State University, the middle daughter is a high school freshman and the youngest is entering sixth grade.
“If we were to have the opportunity to serve this district, we will be moving the whole family up here. We’re all in on this and being a part of Sedona,” Swaninger said.
Having his children in the district would follow in the footsteps of outgoing Superintendent Dennis Dearden, who had his daughter enrolled in SOCSD until she graduated from Sedona Red Rock High School last month.
“He was just the stronger candidate of the two and had had the most experience. That was a really hard decision. They were both fantastic,” SOCSD Governing Board member April Payne said, talking about how she could see the Swaningers fitting into the district. “For me, I love listening to the kids and their perspective on the teachers and how they think the school is going. Having that sort of input that’s going to be so personal, I think will be such a benefit and they’ll be able to influence the direction. He’ll be so personally invested in the health of the district.”
Swaninger has 23 years of experience as an educator, covering preschool through 12th grade. He holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Arizona State University, a master’s degree in counseling from Oakland University and a doctorate in education from Northern Arizona University.
Swaninger said that fostering a pro-educator environment in the district would be his highest priority, saying that teachers “need to feel trusted and supported, given the proper autonomy.”
He included economics in that conception, as he stated the district would continue to work with individual donors and organizations to provide affordable teacher housing.
He proposed to deal with increased competition for students using a strong public relations campaign, such as a regular schedule of social media posts focusing on student recruitment and retention.
“Education is a tough business now,” Swaninger said in his closing statement. “It’s never been more difficult. But I believe that there’s more joy to be found in this profession than any [other] … What a privilege it is, to be in a role to serve the community and help students be all they can be, and I would be honored beyond belief to have an opportunity in Sedona.”
