Colo. City district thriving, thanks to AZ taxpayers
 
By Al Herron
Prescott Daily Courier
Al Herron

Until the year 2000, all of the children in Colorado City, Ariz., attended public schools. But then the FLDS prophet, Rulon Jeffs, ordered the faithful to stop all contact with heathen and apostates – which meant anybody who is not FLDS. So about 650 children left the 950-student system. Imagine the chaos that resulted from this religious edict.

Even though all the church’s children left, the School Board has remained 100 percent FLDS. Remember this as you read.

Most of the remaining students were from polygamist families also, but they belonged to a smaller, dissenting group called the 2nd Warders – apostates, doomed to hellfire – who live three miles away.

This is a very poor school district, and the board never tried to build its own schools. Instead, they leased space in buildings owned by the FLDS church. After the edict in 2000, the district did not need as much space, so even though some leases were paid up for several years in advance, the board relinquished most of it. Now the church has that space for its schools.

Every negotiation was a sweetheart deal which favored the church at the expense of the taxpayers.

Next, the school board pleaded poverty to the newly created Arizona School Facilities Board. The facilities in Colorado City were indeed bad, so in 2001 the state built them a new $6 million K-12 school, and we taxpayers paid for it.

At about the same time, Arizona launched a program to provide a financial cushion for schools in the event of a rapid decline in enrollment – usually caused by a major employer shutting down. After the FLDS suddenly removed two-thirds of the students, the Colorado City district qualified. They have received about $1.5 million per year for the past three years under this “rapid decline” program, and will for three more years – about $9 million total. So we paid again.

FLDS teachers were forbidden to teach the heathen and apostate kids, so many moved to the new church schools. Most other employees stayed, and the public school district remains the largest employer in the area. It still has 100 employees, for only 300 students now – an outrageously high 3 to 1 ratio.

Every student is now bused to the new school from outlying areas. And guess what – all the school bus drivers are FLDS who kept their jobs and earn an average salary of $30,000. (The new teachers earn $20,000.)

This amazes me! Starting with the Prophet’s edict in 2000, the FLDS have crafted a scheme that defrauds Arizona taxpayers on several levels, and it seems that nobody even realizes it. Or nobody cares.

District School Supt. Alvin Barlow has been in his job longer than any other superintendent in the state, so he’s knowledgeable. (Incidentally, he also has four secretaries and four administrative aides.)

Barlow goes to state surplus property sales and gets school equipment and supplies on the cheap, then shares them with the church schools.

One of the perks of being a public school official in Colorado City is free transportation. The district owns 15 vehicles (mostly big SUVs, vans, and pickups) which are assigned to various FLDS administrators and principals. They’re supposedly for official business, but they also get a lot of personal use with the district paying for fuel, maintenance, and insurance. Free use of a large vehicle is a great benefit for a polygamist family.

This little 300-student district also bought an airplane last year – a used Cessna 210, for $220,000 – so the officials can get to meetings easier. Then they contracted with the son of the school board president to fly it for them.

Board President Bistline says, “If the people don’t like it, they can go to the polls and get someone else.”

Next: the welfare rip-off.
 
prescottaz.com
Originally published Friday, August 8, 2003
 
Back