The Sedona-Oak Creek Unified School District Educational Foundation has been able to increase this year what it funds for the Sedona-Oak Creek School District compared to previous years, Superintendent Tom Swaninger, Ph.D., said at a foundation meeting on Thursday, Aug. 14.

“The purpose of this group here is to run an endowment, so we raise money to put in the endowment,” foundation vice president Basil Maher said. “The endowment is invested in the ACF organization — I guess they have funds there that grow the endowment — the proceeds of that endowment each year is what we will use to fund the programs at the school.”

Maher said the foundation has organized the endowment so they can use it down to 80% of its high-water mark.

“So as it grows, we can go down to 80%, not the original 80% but the new high-water mark, but then it has to go back up,” he said. “So we have some insurance that even in bad times, we can keep funding the things that we’ve started to fund, but we’d also like to make sure we can grow the things that we fund.”

When the foundation funds programs, it’s only after Swaninger has requested some thing and the school board authorizes it.
Maher said the foundation doesn’t “come up with [its] own programs.”

When Swaninger was hired as the super intendent of the school district in 2023, he came up with a list of things he said he’d like to see done. From the start, the funding wasn’t there to complete the entire list.

“Some of the programs are not as expensive as you originally budgeted,” Maher said to Swaninger during the meeting. “So you should go back and look at all of those programs and try to get a more realistic budget, because … when we first looked at his list, we thought we needed [a] $30 million endowment. We’ve got $10 [million], all right, but, you know, maybe we only need
$20 million to do the whole list.”

The programs the school board has authorized the use of foundation funding for includes the Wildcats Extended Day Program and a new, second preschool class that began this year.

“Some other expenses … will go toward administrative [business],” Foundation Treasurer Joan Bauck said. “That’s what we have planned for this year, and it totals $675,000.”

The extended day program isn’t new, Swaninger said, but the way it’s being funded and facilitated this year is a little different.
In the past, teachers and administrative staff have collaborative meetings about the students, according to Swaninger, to discuss what the kids are struggling with, what is working well for them, and adjust educational practices accordingly.

Now, Swaninger said SOCSD Community Education Director Jessica Sweeney will now be part of those meetings, getting to know the kids via their teachers, and this will help the afterschool programs be more beneficial to the students.
“We’re only about a week in the school, but I’ve heard some real positive feedback of the difference that Jessica is making,” Swaninger said.

The extended day program itself is largely funded by the Rotary Club of Sedona, foundation Secretary Mimi Maher said. The foundation is funding Sweeney’s involvement in expanding and improving the program.

“The expense of running the extended day program is beyond what the very generous donation is from the Rotary Club,” Swaninger said. “So both the foundation and the Rotary Club, kind of a team effort, [are] supplementing the cost.”

If the kids are struggling with something and do need help during their time in the afterschool program, Swaninger said they won’t be put straight to work.

“They have other, you know, fun activities they can do,” he said. “But they have a tutor or someone there that can have additional practice to help them along.”

There are, of course, students who are gifted and complete their work early, but that doesn’t mean they are left out, he said. A lot of the program is simply enrichment opportunities.

“I just spoke with a guy at a coffee shop, and he knows how to juggle,” Swaninger said. “He’s going to come in and teach the kids how to juggle.”

Another position the foundation funded this year is theater instructor Cae Collmar.

Swaninger said it’s a testament to the foundation that the district can afford to offer a more diverse range of classes through the endowment.

“We decide that the experience for the kids and the outcomes for these kids is worth it to continue to offer all of these [classes], we can offer theater now,” he said. “We can offer … numerous [Career and Technical] or [Advanced Placement] classes beyond what a lot of large high schools would offer.”

With a growing orchestra program as well as theater now, Swaninger said the foundation is making more of his goals possible.
“A lot of school districts wouldn’t be able to hire a teacher for both of those knowing that you have, you know, 12, 16, 18 kids in those [classes],” he said.

“Most districts would say ‘we [have] got to shut one of them down,’ and … without the foundation, we probably would have to shut those things down.”