Pupil Loss Hits District in Arizona

A small school district on the Arizona-Utah state line has run out of money, four years after it lost almost two-thirds of its students in a mass withdrawal encouraged by local religious leaders.

Since mid-October, funds have been insufficient to cover the paychecks issued to the 60-plus employees of Arizona’s 380-student Colorado City Unified School District, or to pay its vendors and lease-holders, said the district’s superintendent, Alvin S. Barlow.

“This has had quite an impact on us,” he said. “[But] the employees have stayed at their posts. We’re anxiously trying to bring...