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#RedForEd One Year Later: The Challenges Rural Arizona School Districts Face

Stanfield is an unincorporated area between Casa Grande and Maricopa in southern Arizona, and the school district there has just one school.

There are nearly 500 students enrolled in the school, from preschoolers to eighth-graders, and they come from the surrounding 600-square-mile area. The school’s longest bus route goes to the Tohono O’Odham reservation — an hour’s drive away.

Melissa Sadorf has been the superintendent of Stanfield Elementary School District for eight years. She grew up going to school in a rural district, and she told The Show about their challenges — even before the debate over state funding.

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Lauren Gilger, host of KJZZ's The Show, is an award-winning journalist whose work has impacted communities large and small, exposing injustices and giving a voice to the voiceless and marginalized.