Colorado City school budget's oversight remains in limbo
 
By Patrice St. Germain
patrices@thespectrum.com
 
COLORADO CITY - The school board unanimously passed a $2 million budget for Colorado City Unified School District 14 at a meeting last Thursday, but who will administer the budget is still uncertain.

In May, the school district's administration offices were searched by officials from the Arizona Attorney General's office. During the search, computers, files and other financial records, including payroll documents, were seized.

The school's high budget and number of staff are some of the issues under investigation by the Arizona Attorney General's office, which is continuing to put together two cases - one for the state school board and another that is part of a criminal investigation, said press secretary Andrea Esquer.

"We are still reviewing the documents and computers - everything that was taken into custody," Esquer said. "One part of the process is to put the case together for the state school board to put the school into receivership when the law comes into effect."

During the last legislative session, a bill was passed, Arizona HB 2417, which addresses intervention at schools with financial mismanagement.

Mohave County School District superintendent Mike File said the state school board will meet on Aug. 22 and come up with a list of possible receivers for the state.

"The law takes effect August 12 and the board needs to come up with a list of possible receivers for the state (in case this happens somewhere else), but the law was written for them (Colorado City)," File said.

File said the issue of placing the district under receivership would be heard at the state school board meeting on Sept. 26. File said the action is a result of numerous complaints the state board of education has received against the Colorado City School District, which includes bounced payroll checks.

File said the receiver would be the administrator for the school and would have the power to fire employees although the school board would remain intact. File said school board members could only be removed by recall or by the attorney general's office for criminal activity.

School business manager Jeffrey Jessop said the budget for the 2005-06 school year is about $200,000 less than the last school budget - a 7.9 percent decrease.

But the budget is still large considering the number of students at the school, which has no extracurricular activities and no sports program. The school is top heavy in staffing with 83 people on the payroll, which includes the superintendent, teachers, managers and teachers' aides.

Jessop said the decrease is a result of the step-down program where the budget is reduced each year to bring it in line with the number of students attending the school. The program is to help school's that see a sharp decline in enrollment.

Jessop said several people at the school said they were leaving and that they will not be replaced.

Schools in Mohave County will go back into session Aug. 15. File said he is unsure when the Colorado City schools would resume.
 
TheSpectrum.com
Originally published July 7, 2005
 
Back