For the past several years, South Verde High School has been a presence on Main Street.
However, due to a tough economy, the school may change locations.
Nothing is certain, yet. The school currently teaches students out of a building owned by Bob Simbric, a former member of the district’s governing board.
Regardless, the board is considering moving the school to another location, possibly the Camp Verde Yavapai College campus, a building complex the district already owns.
Nothing is final; Camp Verde Unified School District Superintendent Dan Brown has been looking at several options regarding the future of South Verde and expects to bring his findings before the board at its December meeting.
“The board requested that I look at all the options,” Brown said.
The school is technically a charter school, one that offers an alternative learning curriculum to students who may not be best served by a traditional school environment.
The school relies heavily on technology to teach students, especially Internet-based learning materials. The fact that the district doesn’t own the building is something the board will have to consider, Brown said, because the district may only want to invest so much in a building it doesn’t own when it comes to the necessary infrastructure required to carry out South Verde’s mission.
The school also currently has a day care center for young children of students, something that has to meet specific government guidelines if the school were to move to a different place. The district might have the option to negotiate lease payments or buy the Main Street building outright. However, depending on the price, a purchase would have to be approved by the voters in the district.
Beyond all of the nuts and bolts, Brown said it’s important to keep the students’ opinions in mind. In the years since South Verde has been on Main Street, the students have taken on a sense of ownership at the school; they are the South Verde Bulldogs.
The school’s sports teams use the Town of Camp Verde’s gym and soccer field across the street for practice and games, a benefit that would be harder to take advantage of if the school moved next to the buildings currently used by the more traditional schools between Camp Lincoln Road and Apache Trail.
The main high school gym and practice areas are already in heavy use, Brown said.
On the other hand, Brown said having South Verde students close to Camp Verde High School would enable students to better take advantage of certain career education programs currently only available at CVHS.
Ultimately, the fate of South Verde High School is up to the school board. Brown said he expects to present options to the board at its Tuesday, Dec. 14, meeting.
