Horne wants to take over district
 
By Pat Kossan
The Arizona Republic
 
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said Monday that he will push for a new law that would allow the state to take over "grossly mismanaged" school districts and named Colorado City Unified as the first target. Colorado City Unified is a 350-student district in northern Arizona, which started bouncing teacher paychecks in October despite owning its own private airplane.

"I think people are shocked," said Horne, who plans to ask state lawmakers for help when they reconvene in January.

"There needs to be a mechanism to allow a court to appoint a receiver if the district is completely dysfunctional."

Attorney General Terry Goddard said Monday that his office could find no law allowing the state to appoint a trustee or receiver for Colorado City Unified. Goddard said he would like to see the State Board of Education take charge of the district temporarily and keep classes open for students.

"They stopped paying teachers and I consider this serious," Goddard said. "We need a way to intervene before such a financial collapse."

For two years, Colorado City Unified has failed to meet state and Mohave County deadlines to account for its spending. Colorado City and the neighboring Hildale, Utah, are headquarters for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a breakaway sect, which, unlike the mainstream Mormon church, practices plural marriages. Colorado City Unified District's 20 administrators belong to the FLDS, but its students and teachers live in Centennial Park, a nearby community whose residents are members of a different polygamist sect.
 
azcentral.com
Originally published December 7, 2004
 
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