Representatives tour Colorado City
 
By Caleb Soptelean
Today's News-Herald - Havasu City
 
Two area legislators joined County School Superintendent Mike File on a trip to Colorado City last week.

The trip was made "to assess the situation in result of the receivership bill passing," File said.

The state Legislature recently passed and Gov. Janet Napolitano signed a bill to put the Colorado City Unified School District in receivership. This was done to bring the district's finances under state control after its employees couldn't cash their paychecks for several months earlier this year.

"We got to see the monumental task at hand," File said. "The administration isn't talking to the teachers. They're still being kept in the dark."

File said the teachers are "highly underpaid" and have "no materials to teach with."

The Arizona Attorney General's Office on Tuesday served a criminal search warrant on the Colorado City Unified School District, taking custody of boxes of financial records, other documents and computer equipment. The search warrant and its related documents are sealed by the Superior Court and remain confidential.

Terry Goddard also instructed his staff to prepare to ask the state Board of Education to appoint a receiver to oversee the district. File said that he - at Goddard's request - had added his name to a list of persons who could be appointed to receivership.

State Rep. Trish Groe, R-Lake Havasu City, said the trip was "extremely educational."

Groe, State Rep. Nancy McLain, R-Bullhead City, and District 1 Supervisor Pete Byers' secretary, Cindy Levesque, visited the K-12 public school in Colorado City and a K-9 charter school in Centennial Park. Centennial Park is a polygamous community not affiliated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is located close to Colorado City.

While at the public school, the group met with some 25 teachers.

"They were extremely thankful to have someone there from the Legislature," Groe said.

The teachers were concerned about the receivership bill being passed without their input. But they were "extremely thankful something was being done about the financial management."

Groe said CCUSD Superintendent Alvin Barlow came and went during the meeting. "He said he wasn't invited, but he was informed and invited," Groe said.

Groe said she would be making another trip to Colorado City in early August.

"The (Masada) charter school was absolutely astounding," Groe said.

McLain said the charter school was a "beautiful building."

There was "a lot of manual labor getting that school built," she said.

McLain said one teacher told her that the teachers were forced to pay a 4 percent paycheck insurance in order to get their checks cashed.

This resulted after the Arizona Risk Retention Trust took over as a guarantor of the school district employees' checks earlier this year.

"We met some very lovely women (at the charter school)," McLain said. "They were very open about answering our questions.

"I don't know what to say about their lifestyle ... On the whole, they are some delightful people. If you didn't know their circumstances, you wouldn't have any reason to think twice about them."

Colorado City Unified is $1.5 million in debt at 6 percent interest to the Arizona School Risk Retention Trust, a corporation that insures Arizona schools.

Colorado City Unified District's administrators belong to the FLDS, but its students and teachers live in Centennial Park.

Persistent lobbying by Goddard and strong support from Republican Senators Toni Hellon and Linda Gray led to passage of the bill just days before the Legislature adjourned on May 13, according to published reports.

"The first thing we are going to do is remove all the administrators and hire new people," File said, as reported in the Phoenix New Times.

The school district legislation goes into effect on Aug. 13.

The Senate approved the measure by a 29-0 vote, and the House by 59-0. The bill is set to expire in two years.

The school district has 350 students and more than 100 employees.

In the past five years, the FLDS-dominated school board has kept teachers' salaries at the lowest level in the state - the starting wage is $18,500. Only one teacher makes more than $40,000, according to the report.

Several FLDS bus drivers and other support staff are making more than $30,000 a year. Top FLDS school administrators are paid more than $50,000 annually, according to district records.

Deloy Bateman has taught science at the high school for 24 years. Last year his base salary was $27,000.

"I've been here for 24 years, and it's literally been 18 hours a day," he told the New Times.
 
havasunews.com
Originally published May 26, 2005
 
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