A northern Arizona polygamist community’s school district is fighting the state’s effort to take over financial control of the district.

The 344-student Colorado City Unified School District has filed a detailed response to the state’s receivership petition scheduled to be considered by the state Board of Education during an Oct. 20 special meeting.

The state alleged that taxpayers and students have been harmed by mismanagement that included purchase of a nearly $200,000 airplane, questionable dealings concerning buildings and equipment and poor fiscal practices that kept teachers from being paid for two months last year.

Colorado City is a secluded northern Arizona community controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect that broke away from the Mormon Church. Sect members also live in neighboring Hilldale, Utah.

The district’s response argues that its board and administrators have acted responsibly and that some of the circumstances that caused it money problems were outside its control.

The district acknowledged that it was in a cash deficit in late 2004 when it couldn’t meet payroll, but it pointed a finger of blame at the state because the Department of Education refused to make an expected advance distribution of state aid.

Insurer Covered Checks

The paychecks began flowing again when the district’s insurer, a nonprofit that covers most Arizona school districts, provided a line of credit so banks would honor warrants — essentially IOUs — issued by the district.

The district’s response also challenged the authority of the state to consider the takeover requested by the state attorney general, the state superintendent of public instruction and the Board of Education’s executive director. Those officials filed their petition last month under a new state law passed by the Legislature in response to the Colorado City district’s problems.

The district said its purchase of an airplane was reasonable given Colorado City’s isolated location north of the Grand Canyon, five hours by highway from the Mohave County seat in Kingman and eight hours to Phoenix, the state capital. Using the plane significantly reduces employee travel time and costs for overnight stays, the district said.

The state had said the district spent too much on administration. The district responded that it aggressively sought federal grants to supplement its state and local funding and that it needed personnel to request and administer grants.

It also denied that district officials had misused district credit cards, vehicles and equipment, as alleged by the state’s petition. —

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