Receiver: Colorado City school district improving
 
The Associated Press
Mohave Daily News
 
LAKE HAVASU CITY (AP) - The receiver put in charge of the Colorado City Unified School District in December by the state of Arizona says the district has improved dramatically under new leadership.

The changes are so great that receiver Peter Davis said it is no longer necessary for him to be on site on a daily basis because the district can now "function as a self-sustaining organization," according to a report he submitted to the state Board of Education.

The district, which serves the polygamist community of Colorado City in extreme northern Mohave County, teaches about 425 students.

The district needed a $1.4 million bailout after falling into debt last year.

Davis was hired in December to put the district back on track and find ways to pay back the money owed to the Arizona School Risk Retention Fund, an insurance co-op for school districts. After he was hired, more than 20 school employees either resigned or were fired, including the principal and superintendent.

Mohave County Schools Superintendent Mike File visited the district earlier this month and said the new staff is making good progress.

The Board of Education appointed Davis in December under a 2005 law enacted because of the district's financial problems.

Those problems included teachers going without pay for several months during 2004.

The district experienced financial troubles partly because members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were not paying taxes on property owned by a trust under which church members collectively hold their property.
 
mohavedailynews.com
Originally published Thursday, March 23, 2006
 
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