Colorado City educators a no-show for meeting
 
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Tri-State News Network
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KINGMAN, Ariz. – A collection of 12 educators and residents from Colorado City scheduled a meeting with both the Mohave County and State Superintendents Saturday afternoon and didn't show up. Mohave County Superintendent Mike File received the call and that the Colorado City contingent would not be attending their own meeting.

"After meeting last night to prepare the information that they were going to go over today, several of them received e-mails that the press would be here and then they decided that they just weren't going to come. Because most of the people that were going to come down were staff members, who were going to share with you the information that they see everyday in the school. And it became apparent that they felt they would lose their jobs for insubordination or whatever charges would be brought against them. So they just decided that they weren’t coming," File said.

The reason for the meeting was an attempt by the Colorado City delegation to alter both state and county funding for their schools.

"One of the things that happened was that they indicated they were running short of funds and wanted us to advance funds that would be due them for later months. And normally we would do that if a school district needed an advance of funds against the amount they would receive over the course of the year. But it is my discretion and I declined to do it," said Tom Horne, the Arizona Superintendent. "There is a question to whether the funds are being spent prudently."

File defended the press' presence, saying any dealings with public schools and public funding should be done in the open. Colorado City officials said rather than face the public scrutiny, they would instead draft a letter of their concerns in the district and outline the need for additional funding.
 
Tri-State News Network
Originally published Monday, February 23, 2004
 
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