At 5:30 Tuesday evening, July 25, in the Miami High School auditorium, the Gila County Provisional Community College District (also known as Gila Community College) is presenting a public Town Hall to discuss its plans after ending an educational services contract with Eastern Arizona College. Another Town Hall is being held July 27 in Payson High School’s auditorium, also at 5:30.

“We are aware of the distress and confusion this situation has caused in our community,” said GCC Interim President Dr. Janice Lawhorn, “and we look forward to providing accurate and truthful information, addressing questions and concerns, and sharing future plans and goals for the College.”

The meetings may or may not include announcing a new educational services partner, which the State of Arizona requires. According to the draft minutes of a July 19 special meeting, the District Governing Board has authorized legal counsel to proceed with a revised educational services and operating services intergovernmental agreement.

In the meantime, the district and EAC continued attempts to resolve disputes around the contract termination.

The contract was originally terminated effective June 30, 2024 by GCC; later, EAC moved that date up to Sept. 10, 2023. The Thatcher-based college also said it will not enroll new students at Gila County campuses, and prohibited its employees – including the Gila County senior dean and the associate directors of the Gila Pueblo and Payson campuses – from appearing before the District Board, to whom they formerly presented monthly reports.

On June 27 Lawhorn and GCC lobbyist James Candland met with EAC representatives. This meeting led to a July 5 written proposal by GCC for the coming academic year. “While we may not be on the same page regarding how to proceed, we in fact share a common goal: Providing the students of Gila County with the best possible postsecondary education,” the proposal read in part.

The document asked EAC to honor the original contract termination date; commit to 2023-2024 CTED and dual enrollment contracts; re-allow employees to attend board meetings; continue offering all courses on both campuses; maintain full-time faculty and staff contracts through June 30, 2024; and “support GCC’s transition initiative with our educational partner.”

The EAC reply, datedJuly 14, noted that the termination was not their decision. “We were not included in that conversation before the [Gila] board took official action,” it added, going on to say that EAC accepts the termination.

Addressing the revised date, the response read that EAC “believed that it was in students’, employees’ and the community’s best interests to end confusion about what Gila’s termination would mean and the impact it would have.” It also stated that EAC does not plan to rescind the action, but will work with GCC’s new educational provider – when they are identified – “to ensure a smooth transition for our students in Gila County who wish to transfer to the new institution.”

In a June 12 meeting, the GCC Board approved agreements that will continue CTED and dual enrollment programs for 2023-2024. Included in those agreements were the Cobre Valley Institute of Technology, Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology, and Globe, Miami and Payson school districts (according to draft minutes of that meeting, EAC revised the agreements from three years to one).