Sedona officials and Sedona Charter School map non‑salary support options ahead of budget vote

Sedona city staff and Sedona Charter School leaders met to identify ways the city might help the small charter campus without violating state restrictions on school funding. Participants discussed repairs to two on‑campus staff housing units, a performing‑arts classroom lighting fix used by a youth orchestra, a climbing playground structure and possible after‑school scholarships and transportation, but staff said legal review is needed before the city can commit.

"What we can't do is, by statute, is directly pay salaries or ASRS, unfortunately," said Councilor Charlotte Hosseini, stressing that any proposal must fit within the city’s legal authority. City staff and council members said they would send the ideas to the city attorney, identified in the discussion as Kurt, for written guidance and then assemble a memo and decision package for council consideration.

Amy Folks, executive director of Sedona Charter School, described the campus as a small Montessori program with about 100–115 students pre‑K through sixth grade and said staff members wear multiple roles. "Our school is a magical place of teaching and growth and learning," she said, asking the city to consider help with maintenance on two teacher residences, upgrades to the school’s performing‑arts classroom (the PAC), and playground equipment that the community also uses.

School leaders provided preliminary cost estimates for some items: an interior door replacement at about $300, tiny‑house repairs near $2,200, and two repair pathways for the sprinkler system that board members were weighing at roughly $8,000 for a chemical/vapor inhibitor approach or about $25,000 to convert to a wet system. City staff cautioned that work on building systems is often treated as school infrastructure and may not be eligible for direct city maintenance funds.

Staff recommended several alternative funding or partnership routes. They suggested checking whether leftover Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds or Verde Valley Habitat for Humanity programs could assist with housing repairs, while noting CDBG eligibility is income‑targeted and may not cover the school’s units. The city also pointed to a small grants program that had an application window closing April 30 and encouraged the school to pursue that and other third‑party grants.

On programmatic support, staff said the city could explore making after‑school options available through Parks & Recreation, expanding programs to be open to homeschoolers, or using existing shuttles to transport students to community programs. Staff members said direct payments to a private school program would probably be restricted but that scholarships administered through third‑party grants or city‑run programs were a possible route pending legal review.

Councilors and staff emphasized timing. Attendees were told budget discussions were imminent — staff described a budgeting schedule that starts with initial budget work on Wednesday, proceeds through a final Thursday session, and culminates in adoption in June — and that the city must assemble decision packages quickly.

Next steps: staff will route the ideas to the city attorney for a legal determination, compile the proposals and cost notes into a decision package and memo for council, and invite school representatives to the Thursday budget discussion so they are not hearing outcomes for the first time. If some proposals pass legal muster, they will be grouped into the decision package for possible inclusion in the proposed or final budget.