After years of uncertainty and budget cuts, the SedonaOak Creek School District Governing Board voted to close Big Park Community School during its meeting Tuesday, May 1.

The decision came after months of deliberation in the face of a nearly $1.5 million budget deficit for the 2018-19 school year. The board has been discussing three options: A, to keep all three schools open; B, to close Big Park; and C, to close West Sedona School.

While option A left no cushion in the budget for unexpected expenses, district administration projected that options B and C both would create about $300,000 in savings.

“My son, a week and a half ago, asked my husband and I why we don’t just sell our house and give the money to the district to save the school. While charming and cute, it’s not reality. It led to a great discussion about sustainability and having a sustainable plan,” said Vice President Heather Hermen, whose son attends Big Park. “It’s difficult to sit in this position and to know that we have a responsibility. We agreed to be fiscally responsible and to make that decision for the district. Because of that, plan A is not a fiscally responsible decision in my mind, and I will need to be going the way of consolidation.”

While the board was unanimous in its decision to close one of the elementary schools, Governing Board President Randy Hawley was the sole board member in favor of closing West Sedona instead of Big Park.

“If we close Big Park, the Village [of Oak Creek] would have no schools, and a child’s educational career in our district would be entirely at one end of town,” Hawley said.

He also spoke about how closing Big Park presents logistical problems in continuing its International Baccalaureate Program candidacy, since candidacy can’t be transferred to a consolidated school.

“We would lose two years of work and $81,000 of community volunteer money that’s been raised,” he said.

Should the school district decide to continue pursuing IB accreditation, it would have to start at square one. The consolidated school would have to reapply, and those teachers who aren’t IB certified would have to get that training in order for the new school to proceed with the accreditation process.

“I wish I could get the IB program adopted by the district,” board member Karl Wiseman said, though he sided with closing Big Park.

On the other side of the spectrum, board member Zach Richardson spoke in favor of closing Big Park, indicating that West Sedona is more suitable in terms of location.

“It would be a lot easier to market West Sedona School because there are a lot more parents that live in Cottonwood that commute over to Sedona from [State Route] 89A than they do from [SR] 179, so if we want to recruit students from Cottonwood, West Sedona School would be a better location,” Richardson said.

He also mentioned safety and transportation concerns: More students are bused to West Sedona than Big Park, and he said fire and law enforcement officials have better access to West Sedona.

Board member Karen McClelland said that while she didn’t want to lose the IB program, she agreed that closing Big Park was the most logistically sound decision.

“A school is not the building,” McClelland said. “A school is the teachers and the students. It’s not which building they happen to be in.”

Rebekah Wahlberg can be reached at 282-7795 ext. 117, or email rwahlberg@larsonnewspapers.com