Chandler Arizonan 03-05-2023

This Week

COVID gone but schools’ relief bucks aren’t

BY PAUL MARYNIAK AND KEN SAIN Arizonan Staff

Millions in COVID bucks still unspent by schools.

COVID-19 may be little more than a memory for most people, but millions in pandemic relief funds that went to school districts and charters in northern and western Chandler – and throughout the state – remain to be spent, according to a recent report by the Arizona Auditor General.

“Districts and charters reported spending just over $2.2 billion, or 48 percent, of their nearly $4.6 billion allocated relief monies

through June 30, 2022,” the report states, adding the state Department of Education “had yet to spend/distribute almost $322 million, or 79 percent, of its discretionary relief monies as of June 30, 2022.”

For Chandler’s three main school districts, that translates into a total of over $55.5 million, the report shows. It says:

• Tempe Union High School has received just under $22.2 million in COVID relief and still has $12.3 million to spend, mostly by Sept. 30, 2024.

• Kyrene has yet to spend $13.2 million of the $27.7 million it received.

• Chandler Unified still has $31.4 million to spend from the total $85.7 million it received.

• LD12 – which includes those three districts, Tempe Elementary and assorted charters – have a total $279.1 million left to spend out of the $545 million distributed in that legislative district.

Most of the money statewide was spent on maintaining operations, according to the report. Of that total $1.2 billion, $840

see COVID page 10

Young futurists City program turned around dying strip malls

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

About a dozen years ago there were serious worries about the fate of retail centers around northern Chandler.

The Loop 101 and Loop 202 freeways had opened, changing commuter patterns, leaving some retail centers that were once on heavily-traveled streets with fewer trips past them.

Businesses were shutting down, vacancy rates were up. At the inter-

section of Alma School and Elliott roads, 53% of the retail space was vacant. The strip mall at Cooper and Ray roads had a 68% vacancy.

The city started its 4-Corner project to address the problem, looking for ways to help existing retail businesses stay open and attract new businesses to bring jobs and tax dollars to the city.

The City Council got an update on how that project is going during

see MALLS page 6

Displaying their Future City presentation for a regional competition are Arizona College Prep Middle School students, from left, Amaira Srivastava (6th grade), Prisha Pulastya (7th grade) and Saaya Saj (6th grade), who said they designed a city similar to Miami, that could better withstand hurricanes. The dome structure buildings would fare better in that kind of weather, they believe. (Ken Sain/Arizonan Managing Editor)

Bird supplier for Ostrich Fest has weathered hard times

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

The Chandler Chamber Ostrich Festival March 16-19 will be the second straight one to feature Black Neck Ostriches.

How they got to Chandler is an interesting story filled with hot air and heartache.

“Old man Chandler (Dr. A.J. Chandler, the founder of the city) has always fascinated me,” said Rooster Cogburn, the man supplying 12 ostriches for this year’s festival.

Dr. Chandler became an ostrich farmer, raising the birds to supply feathers for women’s hats. He was like many Americans throughout history to think they could get rich with ostriches, Cogburn said.

Another one of those Americans is Rooster Cogburn, who now runs an ostrich ranch and petting zoo off oInterstate-10 just north of Tucson.

However, the ostrich business has not been easy for Cogburn.

First, he tried to raise wild ostriches and soon learned that would not work. Then, he purchased some Black Neck Ostriches in South Africa. That breed is ideal for ostrich farming, he said, but that nation has limited who can have them.

Cogburn claims he’s the only rancher in the U.S. with that breed.

He would sell the feathers and skin. A good pair of ostrich-skin boots sells for about $1,200, he said.

Just when his ostrich business was taking off, closing in on a deal to supply hatching eggs to Brazil, disaster struck.

Two hot air balloons crashed on his ranch on Feb. 3, 2002, spooking his birds and triggering a deadly stampede.

“I had 1,600 birds hit the fence at 35 miles an hour,” Cogburn said. “Lost hundreds of birds. The ones that didn’t die were crippled – or skinned up like you can’t believe.”

Cogburn spent years trying to get the balloonists to pay for his losses. He was unsuccessful.

“I lost confidence in our system,” he said, admitting he was angry and frustrated. “American Way of life and everything. When you talk about somebody who is sad and ruined, that was me.”

A number of people showed up wanting to tell the story, but Cogburn said he was so angry and fed up he chased them all away.

But one young man, a University of Arizona student, kept coming back. Jonathan VanBallenberg made a documentary about the incident titled, “The Ostrich Testimonies” that was released in 2008. It won a number of awards.

Eventually, Cogburn was able to pick up the pieces and rebuild his ranch. He turned it into a tourist attraction for folks driving between Phoenix and Tucson.

“From there we have slowly built this thing up one deal at a time to now we’re recognized as one of the top 10 roadside attractions in America,” Cogburn said.

When it came to supplying ostriches for Chandler, Cogburn said he didn’t have the time. Then someone showed

A dozen Black Necked Ostriches will be the honored guests at the Chandler Chamber Ostrich Festival March 16-19. (Special to the Arizonan)

up, trying to lease his ostriches for Chandler. Cogburn said he didn’t know or trust this stranger, so he didn’t want to hand his birds over for them to look after.

He talked directly to the city, telling them to hire a former ranch worker of his that he trusted, and that as long as they paid him, they wouldn’t have to pay him for the use of his ostriches.

His former employee does all the work, including transporting the birds and caring for them. They started this arrangement last year.

This year, Cogburn is planning to make some money off the Ostrich Festival. He said they will be selling ostrich eggs at the Ostrich Festival. The shell is a popular item in their gift store. And, he said, one ostrich egg is equal to about 24 hen eggs.

The Chandler Chamber of Commerce is putting on the 33rd annual Ostrich Festival at Tumbleweed Park.

Unlike last year, when the Chandler Chamber of Commerce scheduled the festival over two weekends as a way of

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recovering from its cancelation during the pandemic in both 2021 and 2020, the festival will stretch across a four-day weekend.

Promising multiple attractions for families and people of all ages, the festival also is an important economic driver for Chandler. Chamber President/CEO Terri Kimble said.

Kimble said the festival usually draws between 80,000 and 100,000 peop General admission tickets start at $30 for adults, $20 for children, children four and under will be admitted to the festival free of charge. Limited VIP tickets are available starting at $150 and pricing for family packs will be available for purchase at a later date.

Many of the folks who visit the Ostrich Festival come from outside of Chandler.

“This year, we did an inside-the-fence kind of economic impact for the local community,” Kimble said. “And we estimated that the economic impact was about $9.4 million for the local economy, from hotel nights to restaurants to just everything that it takes to put on the

festival – which is pretty significant.”

Cogburn said there is hope for a brighter future, and his ostriches just might be the reason why. He said he’s been contacted by a Japanese scientist who believes he can build human health antibodies from ostrich eggs. They’ve done some preliminary studies the results have been fascinating, Cogburn said.

So he’s working on a deal to supply ostrich eggs to the scientist. It’s another potential international deal, so Cogburn would prefer hot air balloons stay far away from his ranch.

If you go

Ostrich Festival

WHEN: times vary, March 16-19

WHERE: Tumbleweed Park

2250 S McQueen Road, Chandler.

TICKETS: General admission tickets start at $30 for adults, $20 for children, children 4 and under are free and rides cost extra. Tickets and other information at ostrichfestival.com.

OSTRICH FARM: roostercognurn.com

a Feb. 23 work session. And members learned the city has mostly turned it around.

The Cooper-Ray intersection has gone from 68% to 3% vacancy in 11 years. Alma School-Elliott went from a 53% vacancy to 14%. Alma School and Ray went from 40% to being fully occupied today.

In all, seven intersections studied in the 4-Corner project showed improvement over where they were 11 years ago.

Still, Micah Miranda, the city’s economic development director, says more work needs to be done.

“The overall theme I think you’re going to hear is because our traffic counts are low and our population growth is slowing in these areas, you need additional discretionary spending to support the existing [businesses],” Miranda said.

That means some of these retail spaces need to be converted to multifamily housing, bringing in more customers to support the retail shops that are currently open.

Miranda made some recommendations on what Council can do to help.

First, he wants updates to its area plans to identify destination neighborhoods to help with branding. He pointed to how Uptown Chandler has benefited from branding.

The areas he identified were Southside Village, which is just south and east of downtown; downtown; North Arizona Avenue and East Chandler Boulevard. The boundaries for the latter two have not been set.

Next is to update the city code and zoning that would make it easier for both development and redevelopment.

Also, he called for an expansion of the Adaptive Reuse Overlay District, saying it

has been successful in facilitating reuse projects.

The current district is mostly along Chandler Boulevard and Arizona Avenue. Miranda would like it to include all parts of the city that are north of the Santan Loop 202 Freeway.

The program started in 2015, Miranda said, and helps facilitate the redevelopment of small projects that are under 15,000 square feet.

Miranda also wants Council to expand the Commercial Reinvestment Program boundaries to match the Adaptive Reuse Overlay District.

This is a program that builds public infrastructure, such as shades, pedestrian lighting, murals and protected bike lanes. That infrastructure draws businesses.

The final recommendation is to lobby the state Legislature to encourage redevelopment of underutilized properties to provide new housing units.

Miranda pointed to the one corner he says he fields the most calls about, – including from council members: the Sun Village Fair Towne Center at the corner of Alma School and Warner roads that once was home to a Fry’s supermarket.

Fry’s shut it down in 2016, leaving 84,000 square feet unoccupied and hurting the other retail stores in the center. The current occupancy rate is 23% with a Walmart anchoring the nearly vacant strip mall.

He said when the city tries to bring in new retail, his team considers a number of factors. First, will the new shop compete with any existing shops? They want to avoid that. Second, with the national growth in online shopping, the city is looking for experiences more than a place that sells goods.

So fitness centers and entertainment hubs are more likely to have long-term success than a business that has to compete with Amazon.

Overall, Miranda argued, the city would benefit more from building more apartment and condo complexes.

He compared the Sun Village Fair Towne Center to Riata Apartments, which were built in 2019 west of the Chandler Fashion Center. Those apartments sit on about half of the available land available at Sun Village.

The apartments’ 300 units bring in $469,088 in property taxes. The city cur-

rently gets $232,520 in property taxes from the mostly empty buildings at Sun Village. Miranda argued that turning retail places like that one into apartments would not only provide more customers to support existing and new businesses, but also bring in more tax dollars to the city.

He said the city could choose to reclassify housing projects such as this one to encourage builders to add more housing.

He argued if the city reclassified for seven years, the lower property tax would be about the same as the city earns now.

After a decade, he added, the city would gain a benefit. He said the Sun Village center has a net income of -$81,307, while Riata Apartments is $1.94 million.

After 10 years, the General Fund revenues would be $1.67 million for Sun Village, and $5.21 million for Riata, he estimated.

Vice Mayor Matt Orlando complimented the presentation, but urged Mirada and his team to have a Plan B if the Legislature is unwilling to pass laws that would make it easier to attract housing.

“I just don’t want to sit around twiddling our thumbs waiting for legislators to do something,” he said. “I don’t know the legislators will address this, they definitely won’t this year. The bills are done. What are the tools that we have, that we can use, such as development agreements?”

Mayor Kevin Hartke complimented the presentation.

“Very good presentation, and I look forward to kind of getting some more details on some of those [recommendations].”

Miranda said it hasn’t been easy turning the tide.

“Overall, we’re in a much better place 10 years later, which I’m very happy to say because there’s been a lot of bumps along the road,” Miranda said.

The abandoned Fry’s supermarket building on the northeast corner of Warner and Alma schools might be better giving way to multifamily development, the city’s top development official said. (File photo)

City officials show how the 4-Corner project improved several intersections where retail strips were dying 12 years ago. (City of Chandler)

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Food tax survives city council, Legislature

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

It does not appear likely that Chandler residents will get a tax break at the supermarket – at least from the city.

Two separate attempts that would have either cut, or eliminated the 1.5% tax ran into roadblocks last month.

Chandler Councilman Mark Stewart proposed either cutting or suspending the tax at the Feb. 23 meeting. His proposal died when no other member was willing to support it.

“I want to recognize the inflationary challenges we face and the hardship that’s been created,” Stewart said in making his plea. “For many in our city, inflation is not slowing down, as we’ve noticed with the January report (currently at 9.5%).

“That’s why I want to have a discussion with you, and with the community, about a proposal to suspend our grocery tax. It’s 1.5% on all non-prepared foods, and I’d like for that to go into effect as early as April 15, but I would settle for July 1, which is the beginning of our next fiscal year.”

Instead, Council member Christine Ellis offered up her own motion, essentially delaying a decision until later in the budget process. That is what would have happened anyway if neither had made a motion.

The second attempt to end the grocery tax is coming from the state Legislature. The Arizona State Senate passed a repeal of the tax on Feb. 27. However, it does not appear likely that Governor Katie Hobbs would allow the tax cut to go through. Last week she vetoed a similar tax on rental properties.

Gov. Katie Hobbs prior to this newspaper’s print deadline refused to say whether she will approve the Republican legislation to eliminate the ability of cities to tax groceries and save affected Arizonans more than $161 million a year.

Arizona lawmakers eliminated the state sales tax on such purchases in 1980. But they left intact the ability of cities and towns to continue to do so to

raise local revenues.

“I continue to be concerned about the impact on cities and especially public safety budgets,’’ Hobbs said.

Data prepared by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns show that the effects on those communities that continue to impose the levy would vary.

The question of whether there really will be lost revenues is less than clear.

Even Nick Ponder, a lobbyist for the League, told a legislative panel that approval of SB 1063 won’t necessarily reduce the overall tax burden. He said that cities, having to finance operations, are likely just to increase taxes elsewhere, including possibly hiking the local sales tax rate on everything else.

That sentiment was echoed by Sen. Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe, when the Senate voted to eliminate the tax.

“If you take away this tax, it’ll probably be an increase in property tax or some other increase in their sales tax rate,’’ she said, calling it “playing whack-a-mole’’ with local taxes. Epstein’s district includes northern and western Chandler.

“When we change one tax that our cities are allowed to do, we’re just whacking the mole,’’ said Epstein whose home town has a 1.8% tax on groceries which raises more than $10 million a year. “It’s just going to pop up and become another tax, another place.’’

But Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, had a different take on the measure.

“This is not a whack-a-mole bill,’’ he said. “This is a bill that whacks the tax that whacks poor people.’’

Hobbs, in discussing the bill to block cities from collecting the food tax, said Tuesday she doesn’t want a “piece-meal approach’’ to providing relief to the poor.

“I think there’s a lot of other things I think we could be doing to make things affordable,’’ she said.

Yet the governor continues to push a measure that would eliminate state sales taxes on diapers and feminine hygiene

products, something that would save customers -- and reduce state revenues -- $40 million a year. She said singling out those items is different.

“It’s something that has some impact for some folks,’’ she said. At the same time, Hobbs said it really doesn’t cut local revenues other than the share of state sales taxes they receive.

Chandler officials have said they were concerned the Legislature would pass both the food and rent tax cuts, which would have meant up to $25 million cut to the general fund.

Stewart said the city has too much money, and it’s time to give some of it back to its residents.

“The state threatens to undermine our local control because other cities don’t watch the money like we do,” Stewart said. “The reality is that each city is different.

“We have a $10 million emergency fund, right? We have a $38 million contingency fund. These dollars are not marked for anything, so $48 million right there. When I started on council, that

contingency budget was about $24 million. Now it’s $38. We could lower that by 3% and that would take us to $26.6 million.”

Stewart said the city is well run, adding services, and can afford to give back some of the money it collects.

“We’re building ballparks, we’re adding more policemen,” he said. “We’re adding fire stations, we’re investing in infrastructure. … We are killing it. … So that brings me to the cost of this proposal. Suspension of the entire 1.5% would cost the city about $14 million.”

Council is in the middle of its budget planning for the next fiscal year. It has already had one overview meeting in the fall, and its first budget workshop last month.

The second budget workshop is scheduled for March 23, followed by an all-day budget briefing on April 28. The Council is scheduled to adopt the budget on June 15. It is scheduled to consider tax levy for the next fiscal year on June 29.

“Where else can we figure out some-

thing to be able to help others and alleviate some of the concerns that [Stewart] had concerning the … inflation?” Ellis said.

She suggested waiting until staff had a chance to get updated budget numbers and look for recommendations on how best to help residents.

She expressed concerns that suspending the grocery tax, and then voting on

keeping it suspended, or bringing it back each year was not as easy to do as Stewart suggested.

“Valid points,” Stewart said. “And I think tabling this discussion … or the vote on the ordinance for a later date is great.”

Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services contributed to this report.

TEMPE UNION

Tempe Union spent far more on its lunch programs than Kyrene because it became the central distributor of meals for both districts. Arming every student with a laptop also was a big-ticket item. (Arizona Auditor General)

million – about 72% – was spent in the classroom. That includes $741.1 million on salaries and benefits and another $335 million on non-classroom salaries, benefits and other costs.

The Auditor General defines classroom spending as “instruction costs of activities that deal directly with the interaction between teachers and students, student support costs for activities that assess and improve the students’ well-being, and instruction support costs of activities that assist instructional staff with the content and process of providing learning experiences for students.”

For Kyrene, maintaining operations consumed $2.68 million – 68.5% – of the nearly $4.9 million the district has spent through June 30, the report said.

That $2.68 million included nearly $1.7 million on classroom salaries and benefits, $507 million for non-classroom salaries and benefits and $477,585 for other classroom costs.

In addition, Kyrene’s spending for new programs and curriculum cost another $1.4 million – or 16/3% – with $885,262 going for classroom salaries and benefits and $131,851 for the same expenses for non-classroom personnel.

New programs and curriculum include the cost of “academic progress assessments, instructional delivery modifications, summer enrichment, after-school programs, etc.,” according to the report.

Kyrene also spent $329,978 on personal protective equipment that ranges from masks to additional cleaning to extra air purifiers and $125,047 for medical and health services for staff and student, according to the report. That includes testing, counseling and vaccinations.

Because it equipped all students with laptops as a result of closed campuses, the vast majority of Tempe Union’s $9.9 million in spending through June 30 went to technology – just under $7.2 million or nearly 73%, according to the report.

as counseling and vaccinations cost Tempe Union $104,313, the report says.

Protective gear and services consumed 4.5% of Kyrene’s total relief spending through June 30 while Tempe Union’s costs in that category represented 1.6% of its total pandemic aid expenditures in that time period, according to the report.

But food service that consisted largely of free meals distributed at campuses cost Tempe Union $851,866 – including $646,921 for salaries and benefits. That was nearly three times the $239,482 Kyrene spent through June 30 on food service.

In reporting districts’ plans for spending the remainder of their relief money, the report says Kyrene anticipates spending 24% on maintaining operations and 68% on new programs and curriculum.

Tempe Union’s two largest spending areas for the rest of its money fall into the same two categories with 35.3% on new programs and curriculum and 23.8% on maintaining operations.

But Tempe Union also anticipates spending 13.9% on medical and mental health help and 20.5% on technology as well, the report says.

The millions of dollars allocated to schools, districts and the state Education Department came from Congress’ passage of three separate COVID-19 federal relief packages in 2020 and 2021.

The bulk of the districts’ relief money came from three rounds of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, or ESSER, funding.

School districts have until Sept. 20, 2024, to spend their third round of ESSER money and 20% of that allotment must be set aside to address learning loss stemming from the school closures and remote learning that occurred during the pandemic.

Chandler Unified’s chief financial officer said there is no question the trillions of dollars the federal government handed out helped get students back in the classroom sooner.

KYRENE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Like most other districts, Kyrene spent most of its COVID funding so far on salaries and benefits for teachers and personnel outside the classroom, according to this look at what the district spent from its COVID dollars through June 30. (Arizona Auditor General)

Maintaining operations cost the district nearly another $1.3 million with $1.7 million going to classroom salaries and benefits and $74,402 for similar costs for non-classroom personnel.

Personal protective equipment cost the district $122,206 while additional medical and mental health services such

“The COVID dollars were instrumental in the success of us being able to open our schools and to provide technology, and now with some of the impacts of COVID being able to help our students academically,” Lana Berry said.

see COVID page 11

PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY AND CHRONIC PAIN TREATMENTS NOT WORKING!!

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CHANDLER UNIFIED

Meals and laptops also were big ticket items for Chandler Unified in the $54.3 million of COVID relief money the district spent through June 30. (Arizona Auditor General)

COVID from page 10

She explained during the pandemic, then Superintendent Camille Casteel initially planned to use the district’s reserves “to open and provide an environment that the kids can either be virtual, or in person, because we are a student-centered district,” Berry said.

Berry said Casteel made that decision before knowing if CUSD would ever see a dime from the federal government.

In spring 2020, Chandler Unified was not ready for the switch to virtual learning. It had to buy computers for students and staff to take home in March.

There was also a huge increase in students deciding to enroll in the Chandler Online Academy. It jumped to 14,000 almost overnight.

“We had to deploy a number of teachers to the online programs,” Berry said. “And we had to hire, I think, about 176 additional staff members across our

district to make that happen to be able to have those virtual and in-person instruction.”

The Auditor General’s report said CUSD spent $2.5 million on technology.

That cost was part of more than $40 million spent on “maintaining operations,” which the Auditor General says consumed 73.8% of all the pandemic relief money CUSD has spent so far.

Most of the $40 million covered salaries – $23.5 million for in-classroom personnel and another $9.3 million for “non-classroom salaries and benefits,” according to the report.

Another $4 million went mostly for salaries and benefits for new programs in the classroom – which the audit describes as “academic progress assessments, instructional delivery modifications, summer enrichment, after-school programs, etc.”

The only way to effectively treat chronic pain and/or peripheral neuropathy is by targeting the source, which is the result of nerve damage owing to inadequate blood flow to the nerves in the hands and feet. This often causes weakness, numbness, balance problems. A lack of nutrients causes the nerves degenerate – an insidious

cannot survive, and thus, slowly die. This leads to those painful and frustrating consequences we were talking about earlier, like weakness, numbness, tingling, balance issues, and perhaps even a burning sensation.

The drugs your doctor might prescribe will temporarily conceal the problems, putting a “Band-Aid” over a situation that will only continue to deteriorate without further action.

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City’s unspent pandemic relief close to $47M

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Most Americans look at the COVID-19 pandemic a lot differently today than when it first arrived as those early months were filled with unknowns as fears for the economy grew with business shutdowns.

Some of those fears were based in reality. The unemployment rate reached 14.7% in April 2020, the highest it has gone since the Great Depression. The Gross Domestic Product dropped by 32% during that second quarter of 2020.

So, the federal government responded by throwing money at the problem.

A lot of money.

About $5 trillion was shipped to individuals, businesses, schools and local governments to help them overcome the economic fallout of COVID-19.

The money was approved with mostly bipartisan support and it did help. The COVID-19 recession was the shortest in U.S. history, lasting two months, March-

April, 2020.

Chandler received its share of that money – and still has millions of it in the bank.

City officials said they received just under $100 million in COVID funds and have yet to spend $46.8 million.

Chandler Unified School District got about $83 million and has not spent over $31.5 million, according to a recent report from the Arizona Auditor General.

“We did not have a lot of the technologies in place for our employees to work mobile, for the security that you need … for a change that large, and also just communicating with the public through WebEx and Zoom and all the different methods,” said city Chief Financial Officer Dawn Lang.

“So it was all hands on deck with our technology team. And it really took a lot of the funds themselves to get us where we needed to be, and it was a pretty speedy process.”

The information technology depart-

ment received $10.8 million to make the city’s website more mobile-friendly and to beef up security so employees could work safely from home.

Lang said it took about a year for the city to be fully ready for remote work and helping citizens connect from their mobile devices.

“It was a pretty amazing undertaking, we did have to bring in quite a few contractors to help us get there as well,” Lang said.

Most of the money, more than $36 million, went to the city’s Housing Department.

It was intended to help those who were most impacted by the pandemic. There were also funds to help pay for utilities, get food to senior citizens and provide emergency shelter.

The city also spent $500,000 on personal protection equipment and another $250,000 to establish four mobile hotspots to help CUSD students connect to the internet to facilitate their remote learning.

First responders did not get a lot of direct funds from the government.

However, the money freed up by those funds allowed the city to spend about $4.8 million on its police and firefighters in addition to state and federal grants totaling another $814,282.

But not all of the money was used strictly on pandemic-related issues.

The city manager’s office spent $50,000 of the funds to promote events for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office. The Economic Development office spent nearly $500,000 on tourism recovery.

The city decided to switch out its street lights to LED to generate ongoing savings. That cost nearly $11.2 million, with about $5.2 million coming from pandemic-relief money. The rest was paid through the city’s own General Fund, but was possible because staffing costs were covered by federal COVID funds.

The non-housing money came to the city from two sources.

The first and easiest for the city to deal with came from the state AZCares grants. That amounted to just under $30 million. That is money the federal government gave to the states and let them decide how to distribute it.

The money that came directly from the federal government itself was part of the American Rescue Plan Act, and it required a lot more bookkeeping and had restrictions on how it could be used. The city received more than $34.5 million of those funds.

There were additional federal funds see BUCKS page 13

Another big expenditure involved food service, which cost CUSD $5.7 million, the Auditor General said, with about $25 million of that going to pay for workers who prepared and distributed the meals.

Berry said most of the ESSER I money went to purchase computers for students and staff. ESSER II money was mostly used for salaries and benefits to beef up its Chandler Online Academy to handle the huge influx of students.

The district also had to get all of its teachers and staff ready for a virtual world because when school reopened in July, students were still not allowed in the classroom and didn’t return until September 2020.

So about 2,500 staff had to get certified for online education.

Most of the money the district has remaining are from ESSER III funds and is going toward extended learning, and tutoring students to help them make up any learning gaps caused from the pandemic.

“I don’t think anyone in the world was ready for COVID,” Berry said. “I think if anyone were to say that, that would probably not be accurate. None of us … knew what the severity of COVID and how it was going to impact our system.

“I think Chandler Unified School District was ahead of most in the K 12 environment. We had already had the Chandler Online Academy. We already had the curriculum for that, we had the teachers, or if we didn’t have the teachers for that we were able to hire additional ones, but we already had a structure.”

COVID from page 11

available for housing that required a lot of staff time to track every dollar and ensure spending complied with the restrictions.

“Were we prepared for it? No,” Lang said. “Have we been able to handle it? Yes.”

One of the allowed uses of those dollars was to reward employees for exceptional performances during the pandemic. That led to those employees being given a one-time $3,000 bonus.

Lang said the city also gave some of the money to nonprofits that worked directly with the people most impacted by the pandemic.

“If you’re asking on the nonprofit side, I think it was a tremendous help,” Lang said. “Nonprofits serve our most vulnerable in our community, so their need actually did increase substantially.

“So people who were on the fringes and either maybe lost a service industry job, they weren’t bringing in as much income and so that now they needed food boxes, they needed rental assistance, they needed utility assistance. So I think, for nonprofits, it really helped.”

There’s still a lot of money left to spend.

One major project where work has not

started is $4 million for Gazelle Park in the Galveston neighborhood. That money will go toward improvements to the park’s storm drainage system.

Lang said there was never any serious talk of laying off city employees.

“The biggest amount of money in my area that’s been spent, it was on rent and utilities, and that came half from the Cares Act. We anticipate that we’ll get through maybe April of this year, be-

fore we’re completely out of the rent and utility assistance that we’ve been able to provide.

“This money has either kept people in their homes, or is continuing to keep people in their homes. And I think when it’s gone, the eviction rate will be even higher. I think what’s on the horizon is a realiza-

tion that we need some sort of money for this purpose ongoing.”

CUSD actively recruits for its thriving Online Academy

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Molly Garrison has been teaching for 26 years, the last three at the Chandler Online Academy.

“It’s a big change going from in-person to teaching kids on screen,” the elementary school teacher said, adding that she never thought she would try to teach online had it not been for the pandemic.

“I didn’t expect to come online and just fall in love with teaching online,” she said. “I never would dream that in a million years. But I feel like online, I am a more effective teacher than I ever was in the building.”

Chandler Online Academy is succeeding where other districts are falling short. Recently, two neighboring school districts announced they were shutting down the elementary portion of their online schools.

“Despite much effort, enrollment at the elementary grades K-6 has steadi-

ly declined since HVA’s (Higley Virtual Academy’s) inception,” Higley Superintendent Dr. Dawn Foley wrote to parents. “The lack of enrollment has made this model unsustainable for the district, therefore we have made the very difficult decision to close the elementary sections of the HVA beginning in the 20232024 school year.”

They are not alone.

“With much consideration and in consultation with our elementary Global families, it has been decided that GPS Global Academy will no longer include grades K-6 due to extremely low enrollment,” Gilbert Unified said in a statement. “We are working with our families to ensure a smooth transition for any students and families affected by this change.”

Both districts said they will continue to offer an online school for grades 7-12. Chandler Unified is urging Gilbert and Higley parents who are looking for an elementary alternative to check them out.

According to the Arizona Department of Education, Chandler Online Academy had 821 students enrolled in the 20212022 school year. Of that number, 374 were in the elementary school grades of 1-6.

Gilbert Global had 704 students, but only 240 were in grades 1-6. Higley did not fare as well, with only 186 students in its Virtual Academy, only 24 in grades 1-6.

The state has not reported the numbers for this school year.

Garrison described what she likes about teaching online.

“I teach kindergarten and first grade,” she said. “So I only have my little guys on the camera for 20 to 25 minutes at a time before they need to have a break and come back. My teaching is very focused so that I can make sure that I reach my standards and my teaching goals within that short timeframe.

“And what it also has done is allow me to reach every student more effectively because we teach in small groups, rather than a whole group setting.”

She said she also likes the fact that online teaching helps her to get to know a student’s entire family better - not just the parents, but also the siblings.

Andrew Penland is a Chandler Online Academy high school teacher who says he made the switch to the virtual world because of the pandemic, but is happy to

stay there.

“This has actually been a rejuvenation for me,” he said. “I’ve been in the classroom for 16 years. I really enjoyed it, I had a great experience. But for me this has brought teaching to a different level. With online schools, that this might sound strange, but you can actually make a deeper connection with students than you do in a traditional classroom.”

He explained:

“When you have 180 students in-person, you might have some shy students, students who really kind of stay away from the teacher and they don’t want to interact that much. With online students that are all there because they have their own story.”

“I get to interact with them and figure out why they’re there and what I can do to help them. I’m able to really get to know these students on a deeper level.”

Both teachers said they plan to keep teaching online. They also see benefits for students.

“I had a little girl last year who had a death in the family in India, and she was able to go to India and still be at school with me because she was on a screen,” Garrison said.

“That’s another big benefit to our school is that we are so flexible in that all you need to have is your computer and your supplies and you’re good to go.”

Police union head claims city retaliation

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

The head of the Chandler police union has filed a legal claim against the city, alleging officials retaliated against him for some of the things he said and did as head of that body.

Michael Collins, president of the Chandler Law Enforcement Association (CLEA), is offering to settle his claim for $470,000. In a statement, the city said, “Since it’s a legal claim and personnel matter, we won’t be making any comments at this time.”

The claim was filed with the city on Jan. 31 by attorney Kathyrn R.E. Baillie.

In it, Collins claims he was removed from the city’s Criminal Intelligence Unit as retaliation for comments he made to the media in his role as the leader of CLEA. Collins has worked for the Chandler Police Department for 28 years.

“The relationship between Det. Collins and command staff began to change

when he started to meet with the public and the local media regarding the working conditions and short staffing of police officers in Chandler,” the claim says.

“As Det. Collins continued to gain media attention and the public began to

question the City of Chandler, Det. Collins started to see a shift within the command staff and was called on numerous occasions, sometimes when he was a detective and not as a president, to Chief Sean Duggan’s office where he was met with disdain, confrontation, bullying and intimidation to cease his continued activities.”

Collins’s claim accuses the city of removing him from the Criminal Intelligence Unit and National Operations Center Detail, and that Duggan attacked his reputation with false claims he was not performing as a detective.

Because he was removed from his position on the Criminal Intelligence Unit, Collins lost his top-secret SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information) credentials.

The claim says that holding those positions allows for potential opportunities once a detective retires.

The claim says the Collins received excellent evaluations before he began speaking to the media as the head of CLEA.

Those evaluations cited his willingness to be flexible to help meet staffing needs, according to the claim, which also noted that in 2021, the intel unit received a citation for its work.

Collins spoke to the Arizonan a few times. His strongest comments came after Mayor Kevin Hartke’s 2022 State of the City speech. Hartke had claimed during his speech that crime rates are the lowest in 35 years thanks to the efforts of the police.

“That doesn’t pass the smell test,” Collins said at the time. He pointed out that the city in the 1980s had a fraction of the about 275,000 residents it has today. The mayor made a similar remark in his State of the City address last month.

He went on to detail how the mayor could make that claim, even though

common sense otherwise.

“Our department hasn’t kept up with the growth of this city. We’ve been asked to do more with less for almost 13 years now. We’ve kind of reached the breaking point.”

Collins also said in the interview that the city needed to do more to attract more officers to Chandler, and that current officers were overworked.

“We’re stretched very thin,” he said in April of 2021. “It’s happening more than anyone should be comfortable with, and our citizens deserve better.”

He also complimented the city after it agreed to give each officer a $2,000 bonus as part of its current labor agreement.

“We appreciate that the City Council recognizes the difficulties of policing for our current officers, and how competitive the market is for new recruits,” Collins said in March 2022.

“Our officers have worked incredibly hard for a very long time, and I’m glad we are able to find ways to reward them for the excellent job they have done to keep the community safe.”

Collins said because of the ongoing claim, he could not talk to the media about this case at this time. A call to his attorney was not returned.

One council member, Jane Poston, may have a conflict of interest in considering this case, if it reaches the Council in executive session.

Poston, who was elected in August and began serving her term in January, did media relations work for CLEA before joining council.

Poston said in an email the case has not made its way to the council level yet.

She said if it does, she would seek the advice of the city’s attorney before deciding whether she should recuse herself.

MICHAEL COLLINS

Chandler Unified employees getting raise

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Chandler Unified School District employees are getting a raise. The Governing Board approved raises of between 2.5% to 3% at its Feb. 22 meeting.

The salary consultant the district brought in to examine its pay structure said the district and the metropolitan region have come a long way from where it was when he first started working with CUSD in 2019.

“This place rocks,” said Vance Jacobson, of Jacobson Betts & Co. of Seattle.

He said the district has a lot going for it, from athletics and academics to student activities. And he said the pay scale is reflecting that.

It’s quite different from his first year, when he found the Phoenix market unusual.

“Within basically two weeks of our work, we learned that the Phoenix labor market was really quite interesting,” he

told the board. “It kind of just reminded me of typically a job market in a small rural community.”

He said the labor market had stagnated.

“We found that there was very little increase in salaries in the area for huge increases in job contract skills and accountability,” he said. “It was a very flat target. We haven’t seen that anywhere in the country ever.”

So, lacking a true labor market, the eight districts he was working with, including CUSD, decided to recommend their own market.

“We roll that forward four years, and among those and others that have chosen to copy our work for doing the Phoenix market, education is now starting to create hierarchies, career ladders, miti-

gate compression, and do a lot of other things that actually have professional salary administration.”

That helped lead to the raises the district handed out for the 2023-2024 school year. The Governing Board adopted the recommendations from the Super Q Committee, which comprises certified teachers, support and administrative staff.

Certified, support and administrative staff all will receive between a 2.5-to3% raise. There will also be bonuses this spring, if funding is available. Support staff would get $2,000, and certified staff $1,000. Each employee is also eligible for a $400 if they meet the criteria for a wellness incentive.

The raises will keep CUSD in the 65th percentile, meaning it pays better than

65 percent of its peers.

Jacobson and his team proposed the district look at adjusting its salary range so that they give higher raises to staff in the early years of their tenure, usually in years 3 to 8. It would then flatten out over time. He said that should help retain staff.

The starting salary for a new certified teacher in the Chandler Unified School District this year is $52,715. Teachers coming from other districts are given an additional $400 per year of their experience, up to $2,800. The maximum salary is $91,103.

The average salary for a certified teacher in CUSD this school year is $63,447. A 2.5% raise is an additional $1,586.

“What I like about having Vance do this for us is he’s an independent party from the outside looking at us,” said Governing Board Member Joel Wirth. “I think it’s important that we have an independent source look at us.”

CUSD program helps struggling students succeed

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Last summer Perry High School student Gabriel Ruiz was worried about his upcoming senior year.

“It was not good,” Gabriel said. “I was down a lot of credits, I didn’t think I would graduate at the time. I knew I could make up my core credits, but I didn’t know about electives or any of that stuff.

“I didn’t think I would graduate. I thought I might drop out and get my GED.”

Fast forward to this month and Gabriel learned that not only will he be graduating, but he just got accepted to attend Northern Arizona University.

He credits Chandler Unified School District’s Early College program for helping him turn it around. The school is on the campus of Chandler-Gilbert Community College and offers a smallschool alternative to students in need of extra attention.

English teacher Carla Brown works with a group of students during class at Chandler Unified School District’s Early College program at the Chandler-Gilbert Community College Pecos Campus, Wednesday, February 15, 2023, in Chandler, Arizona.

“It’s a small school,” said Gabriel, who said he thought he was going to be 12 credits short of graduating when the school year began. “At Perry, it’s hard to get noticed because your teachers have like 300 kids. It’s hard to get their attention sometimes, or reach out for help.

Janeen Scaringelli, the director of Early College, is in her first year in that position and has seen enrollment more than double this year, from 43 students last year to 95 now.

In fact, since the program only has three classrooms, leaders have had to put some students on a waitlist to get in. What was the key to getting enrollment to more than double in her first year?

“My connections with the counselors at the high school,” Scaringelli replied.

“[We] met and talked with them to promote our program, but it’s really having that personal connection with the counselors, letting them know that we are going to take care of their kids as best we can,” she said.

Students enrolled in the Early College program come from all six CUSD high schools and are from all four grade levels. They remain part of those schools, meaning they can play on sports teams, or participate in band, drama, or attend homecoming and prom.

However, they take their classes at CGCC. In addition, they are eligible to take college courses. The college provides a grant so they can sign up for classes at a discounted rate. The typical Early College student has his or her high school classes in the morning, then col-

Here, I just needed that little extra push to get my way there.”

(David Minton/Staff Photographer)

(Above) Perry High School student Gabriel Ruiz thought he’d have to drop out of school because of his frustrations with his academic progress, but the Early College program changed his life around. (Inset) Janeen Scaringelli is the director of the Chandler Unified School District’s Early College. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

see CUSD page 19

San Marcos parents get good news on school’s future

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Chandler Unified School District

Superintendent Frank Narducci gave some good news to the San Marcos community at a Feb. 21 informational meeting.

“As a result of your input, feedback and recommendations and conversations with leaders in this community, we believe the best path forward is to maintain San Marcos Elementary as a pre-K through sixth grade campus.”

The “Save San Marcos” signs some people brought would not be needed since the district does not plan to recommend closing the school.

However, Narducci made it clear there may come a time when the school could not be saved and asked for the community’s help in making sure they don’t reach that point.

“We know that typically schools with enrollment below 300 students experience increased challenges in providing equitable opportunities for all students,” Narducci said. “For that reason, should the enrollment at San Marcos drop in the 200 range, the district recommendation will be to repurpose the school.”

San Marcos had the lowest enrollment of the nine schools that are under con-

sideration for repurposing.

Its 2021-2022 100-day enrollment, which is the number the state uses to determine funding since students come and go all year, was 357. The school has a capacity of 840.

The meeting was the second at San Marcos. There have been similar meetings at the other eight schools the district

loving care.”

is considering repurposing. The district said it needs to address declining enrollment in the years to come at Bologna, Conley, Hull, Frye, Galveston, Navarrete, and Sanborn elementary schools and Shumway Leadership Academy. No decision has been made on the fate of any of the nine schools. District staffers currently are engaging the schools’ respective communities and will make recommendations to the Governing Board at a later date.

While high school enrollment is above capacity, the earliest grades are starting to show signs of a downward trend.

During an Aug. 10 study session, district officials said there were a number of factors.

The biggest reason is the lack of affordable housing in Chandler. Young families with children under five mostly cannot afford to live in the city. They are moving to places where they can buy a house.

That same factor has been cited by a demographer as one of the reasons for student enrollment declines in the Kyrene and Tempe Union school districts, which serve parts of northern and western Chandler.

Chandler’s population also is getting older, and for the most part many of the families that remain either have older children now filling up the high schools or their children have gone on to college or started working.

CUSD has about 45,000 students. Based on birth rates, officials expect the enrollment to drop 270 students per year, with the strongest declines taking place in 2024-2025 and 2027-2028.

Another factor is the growth of charter schools. There are 18 charter schools with a total of about 10,400 K-12 students that operate within the district’s boundaries.

lege classes in the afternoon.

This differs from the dual enrollment program, where students get college credit for classes they take on their high school campus.

This year, for the first time, an Early College student will not only be graduating from high school, but will also have earned an Associate of Arts degree from CGCC.

So what types of students benefit from the Early College program and why are counselors recommending students?

“They’re not being successful at their school, and they feel that a … smaller school environment will assist,” Scaringelli said. “They also know we have a full-time counselor who’s absolutely amazing. I have a former counseling background. So we kind of give tender,

Because of space limitations, all grades take English together at the same time. Students sit in different groups based on their grade level. The teacher takes turns working with each group, while making sure the other groups have a project they need to be working on.

Scaringelli said Gabriel is just one success story and that there are many more.

“His life changed because of here, because he was able to have the opportunity and people that believed in him, because we pushed him,” she said.

Gabriel agrees, saying he can see a brighter future now than the one he imagined last summer.

“I think [I’ll major] in computer science,” he said. “I like computers and I’m pretty good at math, so I’d like to do that.”

CUSD from page 18

Kym Marshall, center, the executive director for student personalized learning at Chandler Unified School District, takes notes as she listens to ideas during a Feb. 21 meeting on how to attract new students to San Marcos Elementary School. (Ken Sain/Managing Editor)

Leo Schlueter, Chandler Unified School District Executive Director of Elementary Schools, West District, speaks to an audience with an assist from translator Vanessa Rivera during a Feb. 21 meeting at San Marcos Elementary. (Ken Sain/Managing Editor)

see SAN MARCOS page 22

Chandler Gilbert Community College marking 30 years

BY KEN SAIN

Arizonan Managing Editor

Alot has changed in the 30 years since Chandler-Gilbert Community College was first accredited. Back then, there was little else besides farms around the campus, which was come to only a couple of buildings.

What began as two buildings at Gilbert and Pecos roads has since grown to 667,240 square feet of state-of-the-art educational spaces across 188 acres, including the Pecos and Williams campuses, Sun Lakes Center, and the Communiversity at Queen Creek.

One thing that hasn’t changed as the school celebrates its anniversary is a commitment to service.

Its first two presidents, Arnett Scvott Ward and Maria Hesse, “wanted to be massively involved in our community,” said Russell Luce, the school’s athletic director. “They wanted to be a community college, not just in name, but they wanted to be involved.”

Ward and Hesse made service a key component of attending CGCC, Luce said.

“The service learning department here is one of the best in the country,” he said. “It is - and it has been for a long, long time.”

Chandler-Gilbert Community College began in 1985 as an extension of Mesa Community College. When it first opened it was one pink building across from a dairy farm.

The school earned its accreditation during the 1992-93 school year, so it is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Today, it is the second largest school in the Maricopa County Community Col-

lege District with about 14,000 students at four locations.

Service is a big part of the CGCC experience.

Mike Greene is the current head of student life at CGCC. His previous job was running a Boys and Girls Club program, and that is how he said he learned about the school’s commitment to service.

“I really didn’t understand it at the time, when I was at the Boys and Girls Club,” Greene said. “The reality is, it’s not about me and my kids. It was about those kids in those classrooms who are getting connected, and learning about themselves, and learning about service and how important that is.”

Luce offered an example. In English class, most students are asked to write a paper so the professor can evaluate their writing skills. At CGCC, they are asked to volunteer somewhere, put in 15 hours of community service

and then write about the experience.

“I finally came back into a classroom after they did service at the club, came back into classroom and listened to the stories they had written,” Greene said. “And I was like, ‘wow, that’s powerful stuff.’ They were talking about how it influenced them as individuals.”

KT Campbell now works in the student life department, but was among the first group of students to attend CGCC after it earned its accreditation.

“I was given the choice to move out on the street, or you’re going to school,” Campbell said. She tried Mesa Community College at first, but said it was too big for her liking.

Her mom told her about this new college that was opening up.

“I started driving out here, … and I pulled up to just two small buildings.”

She said the one service event that stood out to her was Generations Prom. The students at the school would invite seniors living in the community to a prom-like event.

One year, the number of students signing up was not what it should have been. So, Luce told his baseball team at the time to sign up. Once they did, and had a good time, Luce said it became a very popular event.

“We’d have our big band play,” Luce said. “We would bring young people and

seniors together and we’d have a date. We’d have snacks and refreshments and food from their generation.”

However, it did not survive the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, service remains a huge part of being a CGCC student.

“When I got here, I got to see more of what was going on with those students,” Greene said.

“And what they learned, what they got out of it, was that connection to the college. When they come back they talk about that connection, that experience and whatever they learned. It’s really pretty cool.”

Growing wide and tall

Chandler-Gilbert Community College now has four campuses.

The Pecos Campus: The anchor of CGCC, the Pecos campus boasts the Arnette Scott Ward Performing Arts Center, a bustling student center, and the Coyotes’ athletics sports fields. With 132 acres of land and 21 buildings Pecos Campus has partnerships and/or lease agreements with Grand Canyon University, Arizona State University, Chandler Unified School District, and Northern Arizona University, all of which include a physical presence on site.

Williams Campus: The Williams Campus is located on 55 acres at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport and is home to career and technical education fields – including the FAA-certified Aviation Maintenance Technology Program.

Sun Lakes Center: This location is home to the New Adventures in Learning program. It’s for retirement-age adults who love to learn new skills and explore new topics, without having to worry about grades, homework, or tests. It’s lifelong learning for learning’s sake.

Communiversity: CGCC’s fourth and newest location at Queen Creek and Ellsworth is a unique civic and educational partnership offering classes and advisement/enrollment services in the far East Valley.

The iconic arched second floor walkway of Ironwood Hall beckons students at the Chandler-Gilbert Community College Pecos Campus.

Chandler Gilbert Community college staffers, from left, Russell Luce, KT Campbell and Michael Greene said the school has changed a lot over the last three decades. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

Mayor adds humor, science fiction to annual address

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

The State of the City is great, if you just ignore that giant ostrich named Bertha.

Mayor Kevin Hartke gave his annual State of the City speech on Feb. 16 at the Chandler Center for the Arts and it just about had everything, from local entertainment to a little “Back to the Future” and “Jurassic Park” mixed in.

To close his speech, Hartke was “abducted” by two agents from the future. As they were leaving the stage, a video began running on the main screen. Hartke was forced inside one of the city’s Flex vans, where a man from the future (who looked a lot like Assistant to the City Manager Steven Turner) was waiting.

It’s not a DeLorean, but it still got the mayor to the year 2026. The Turner lookalike told the mayor an announcement he was about to make in his State of the City speech would destroy Chan-

dler in the future and that’s why they had to stop him.

He then showed him future Chandler, which apparently annexed Phoenix and Glendale. It’s now Chandler Sky Harbor Airport, and the three-time Super Bowl champion Ostriches play at Chandler Stadium, which looked a lot like State Farm Stadium.

The mayor was about to announce an ostrich sanctuary at Tumbleweed Park.

The man from the future said that decision led to Ostrich World, the largest amusement park on earth. They were able to attract visitors by making the ostriches bigger, and bigger, and bigger.

But now, they’re too big and biggest of them all, Bertha, is on a rampage and will likely destroy the city.

As for the actual speech, Hartke hit on all of the city’s strong points, while not spending much time of any of its chal-

lenges. The 50-minute speech came after some dance performances by local groups.

He repeated a claim that he made last year: “The city experienced the same amount of serious crimes in 2022 that we did in 1988, when the population was only 80,000.”

The mayor is using the Uniform Crime Report data that is reported to the FBI. The Part I crime index data includes theft, auto theft, burglary, aggravated assault, robbery, forcible rape, homicide and arson.

In 1988 there were a little more than 5,000 such cases reported. In 2022, the numbers were slightly higher, but still under 6,000. However, there was an increase in serious crimes in 2022 from 2021.

Chandler’s worst year for serious crimes came in 2002 with more than 11,000 cases reported.

see MAYOR page 22

Bertha the giant Ostrich threatened the entire city in the comedic video that was part of Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke’s annual State of the City address. (YouTube.com)

Declining enrollment means the district will get less funding from the state. To deal with that reality, the district launched a repurposing committee at the start of this school year to examine underutilized schools.

It also committed to rebuilding one of the schools on the list, Galveston.

Since Galveston (to the northeast) and San Marcos (to the southwest) both serve the downtown region and are on the list, one possible solution would be combining the two. Galveston had 443 students last year, but had the lowest percentage capacity at 42%. San Marcos is at 43% capacity.

That percentage prompted community fears about San Marcos’ future.

The new $23.6 million Galveston school is currently in design. CUSD officials hope to have it ready for use in the 2024-2025 school year.

District facilitators at last week’s meeting led participants in a discussion about what the community wants – and what can the district reasonably do to attract more students to San Marcos so it

wouldn’t have to close.

Repurposing doesn’t have to mean closing. The district has been repurposing its buildings for years. Goodman Elementary became Chandler Traditional Academy-Goodman. Erie Elementary is now Arizona College Prep Middle School.

Knox and Weinberg elementary schools are both gifted academies today.

San Marcos Elementary serves a large Latino population. The meeting this month was held in both Spanish and English and both of Chandler’s elected Latino representatives attended, City Council member Angel Encinas and CUSD Governing Board member Patti Serrano. Encinas graduated from San Marcos.

Narducci made it clear if it is going to stay open then the community needs to help district officials decide how best to attract more students.

“School administration and staff, along with the community, are now tasked with brainstorming programming and engagement opportunities to grow and sustain enrollments here at San Marcos, so all students can receive an equitable educational experience,” Narducci said.

MAYOR from page 21

However, the current crime rate for violent crimes is higher than in 1988. The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer shows there were 199 violent crimes reported in 1988, and that 111 of them were cleared.

In 2021, those numbers are 529 violent cases reported, with 179 of them cleared. That’s more than double the violent cases in 1988.

The mayor also highlighted the city’s water management, saying it has positioned them well during the current drought.

He praised the previous council for its strong conservative management of the city’s finances, saying taxes remain the lowest in the Valley and they have been able to increase services.

He highlighted Intel and the role the company has played in the growth of Chandler. The theme for the speech was “Through the Decades.” He used that to focus on the new tech companies that continue to set up shop in the city.

Hartke said one of the main reasons that tech companies are moving to Chandler is its highly-educated work-

BRING YOUR VISION TO US

force. He talked about the relationships the city has with the state’s top universities and colleges to keep building on that.

The mayor highlighted the city’s first historic district with a segment dedicated to Southside Village. Other topics covered included public housing, affordable housing, parks and recreation, and the diversity of the city.

But before he could get to the “big announcement,” the agents from the future interrupted the speech.

If you’re worried about the fate of future Chandler, don’t be. The mayor was able to divert Bertha from the city. It was last seen heading toward Tucson.

Watch the Mayor

You can view Mayor Kevin Hartke’s 2023 State of the City speech on the Chandler YouTube page, youtube. com/@cityofchandler. There are also links to the three videos, including Ostrich World, that played during the speech.

Musicians get Knox Academy students all jazzed

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Bart Salzman asked the more than 100 fourth and fifth graders sitting in front of him if they knew which city is called the birthplace of jazz. A few did, correctly identifying New Orleans. He then pointed to a photo of a Black man playing the trumpet and asked if they knew who that gentleman was. Quite a few knew, shouting “Louie Armstrong.”

Not bad for a group of students who were all born more than 50 years after Armstrong died in 1971 and who probably listen to a lot more rap and pop than they do Miles Davis, Charlie Parker or John Coltrane.

Salzman is artistic director for the

Chandler Jazz Festival and a member of the Arizona Classic Jazz Society. The society sponsors a class at six area schools, teaching students a little of jazz history and the music before inviting them to join the band.

He and four others were at Knox Gifted Academy in Chandler on Feb. 3. Each student left with their very own jazz kazoo at the end of the hour that they had used to play a couple of closing numbers with the band.

“The band loves doing this,” Salzman said. “And they all work professionally at night, so they’re available during the day. I get the cream of the crop.”

He said he loves exposing children to a form of music that began in the United States.

“We love playing the schools because we get a chance to introduce a genre of music that kids typically don’t get exposed to, certainly not on the radio, or most of their CDs. We found over the years I’ve been doing this that when we expose fourth graders to these instruments, it ups the interest in fifth grade band. Kids all want to play instruments.”

Knox Principal Kristy Braaksma agreed that the class is beneficial to students.

“Anytime we can put community members who have authentic skills then it’s an opportunity for them to learn and grow,” Braaksma said.

“We ask our kids to think outside the box, to be creative, to be imaginative. And music does all of those things.”

Salzman introduced the students to one of the key components of jazz, improvisation. His five-person group played “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” both the traditional way, and a more jazzed-up version they improvised.

As the band played, students clapped along, at one point swaying with the music after being told they could stand.

Many of the songs, such as “When the Saints Go Marching In,” they recognized. But the highlight came when Salzman handed out hundreds of kazoos to teachers to hand out to students. It took a few minutes to get everyone playing the same tune, but they got there eventually for the grand finale.

He even taught them how to improvise. After a stern warning about playing their kazoos during the rest of their classes and what would happen, the jazz hour was over.

But if the interest in music remains, Braaksma said they can help their students channel it.

“We have a great band and orchestra here,” she said. “When kids get into music, they have a pathway that they can find their people all the way through high school. It gives them something to really offer.”

Musician Bart Salzman talks with students as the Arizona Classic Jazz Society puts on a jazz workshop at Knox Gifted Academy, teaching elementary school age students about different instruments and music styles. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

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Chandler yoga expert busy on many fronts

BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Managing Editor

Claire Larson has built a successful yoga business in a couple ways.

In addition to managing a Chandler yoga studio, she also started her own company, giving individual lessons and offering group sessions. Not bad for someone who failed the final exam of an elective yoga course in college.

“I took this yoga class thinking, ‘This is my for fun joke class. How will I not do well on this?’” Larson said.

“I had aced the midterm, which was very postural based and I thought that the final would be just like that. It ended up being all history and philosophy, which I didn’t know, I hadn’t

opened my book. So yeah, so it didn’t go well.”

Larson said despite that setback she liked doing yoga. – especial since her life in Minneapolis started to get hectic working in public relations and marketing after leaving the University of Wisconsin.

he signed up for some yoga courses and not long after that was teaching the courses.

“Two blocks from my first apartment was a CorePower Yoga. So I immediately got hooked on that and started teaching within a couple of months of joining as a member, just because I knew it

was something that I wanted to keep

Moments that define life, matter.

Being over 45 years of age is a new stage in life—it’s the age of ‘reality’ or practicality. At some point we’ve had to deal with the horrible human truth that we’re not immortal, that our health isn’t on autopilot. Whether we have an ongoing condition or we suspect that there might be an issue on the horizon, we have questions, we need answers from someone. Question is, who is that someone?

In addition to managing the CorePower Yoga studio in Chandler, Claire Larson also teaches groups and individuals through her own business. (Special to the Arizonan)

doing on the side.

“And then eventually, once I moved [to Chandler], it became a full-time deal.”

When a serious climbing accident left him with six permanent screws in his shattered ankle, CorePower Yoga founder and CEO Trevor Tice turned to yoga.

An avid outdoorsman from Telluride, Colorado, he found yoga a good exercise to replace the running, climbing and other physically challenging activities that were no longer accessible to him.

Traveling for his technology business, Trevor practiced a variety of yoga disciplines at yoga studios across the country and in 2002 opened his first CorePower Yoga studio in downtown Denver with a proprietary form of athletic, heated yoga in modern, welcoming and spa-like studios.

Larson said she didn’t think about starting her own business. After she would teach classes, her students would come up and ask if she did private lessons.

“My answer forever was no,” Larson said. “And then I kind of realized, ‘why is it no?’”

Her first client was her dentist, who hired her to put on an event for the entire office.

Most of Larson’s group events involve businesses or corporations looking for a bonding event for their employees.

“Maybe those people who weren’t necessarily comfortable doing yoga, all of a sudden they feel like this window has been opened where they are comfortable because they’re with their friends and their colleagues and they’re laughing, and joking at the same time, and they make it a lot of fun,” Larson said. “So that’s a fun experience for beginners.”

Her clients who sign up for individual lessons usually fall into one of two camps.

“Oftentimes, it’s people who have never done yoga before,” she said. “And they’re too intimidated to walk into a studio. Or they’re trying to just learn

a little bit more than what they can get from a teacher teaching an entire group of people.”

When she’s not doing individual or group lessons, she has another job in managing the CorePower Yoga location in Chandler.

Starting a business is an intimidating process. Larson said her background in public relations and marketing would be a benefit, but there was still a lot to learn.

“This was very much out of my wheelhouse,” Larson said. “I never saw myself as a small business owner. But then I kind of had the realization that I can be one. So far, it’s working out great.”

She said she will continue to accept individual and group sessions after starting the job at CorePower.

“I love that I still have this piece of me that I get to keep as my own outside of that business.”

Claire Larson LLC clairelarsonyoga.com

CorePower Yoga

2875 W. Ray Road, Chandler 833-448-2561, corepoweryoga.com/ yoga-studios/az/phoenix/chandler

Case studies show little used IRA strategies work

BY DR. HAROLD WONG Arizonan Guest Writer

y February column identified three advanced IRA strategies that aren’t used enough. these strategies and the huge benefits become more understandable with real-life client case studies.

The Roth IRA conversion strategy: I met Joe and Judy in a seminar I gave in June 2019. Joe was 63 and an outside salesman for a premium window and door company. Jill was 65 and retired. They had saved $850,000 of financial assets and wanted to secure their retirement without stock market risk.

They were currently spending $50,000 per year and in retirement asked whether they could spend $75,000 per year in order to afford lifelong bucket list dreams.

Retirement income solution: We were able to reduce the amount invested in Wall Street to only $85,000 and used the other funds to deposit in private pension annuities and other safe alternatives.

Joe was able to wait until age 70 to retire and take maximum Social Security because he loved his job. At age 70, total annual retirement income is projected to be about $119,922, which is much more than their $75,000 goal.

Tax solution: In 2020, the only question left was whether Judy wanted her future $22,097 annual private pension income to be taxable (because it was funded with a traditional IRA) or taxfree.

They bought some solar business equipment to reduce federal tax to $0 on a total $300,566 taxable income, including the $252,720 Roth IRA Conversion of her private pension. Now her future $22,097 of annual income will be totally tax-free for the rest of her life.

Roth and Multi-Generational IRA strategies: Mary is a retired nurse, age 71, whose physician husband died many years ago. She has $4 million of financial assets, including $1.2 million in a traditional IRA.

MShe has only one child, a son age 40 who lives with her. Her goal is to avoid having to take required minimum distributions (RMDs), starting at age 73, and leave her son as much as possible.

She decided to convert $600,000 to a Roth IRA in 2022 and will convert the other $600,000 to a Roth IRA in 2023. Using an advanced financial concept, economic opportunity cost/benefit analysis, the tax-savings effect of a $1.2 million Roth IRA Conversion will add $4,981,524 more net wealth for her family.

She bought solar business equipment, and used the massive 30% solar credit and “bonus” depreciation to offset all the federal income tax on a total $790,053 of 2022 federal taxable income.

She has achieved her goal of a large Roth IRA Conversion without paying federal income tax or having to take future RMDs. She will owe $0 income tax for the rest of her life on the $1.2 million Roth IRA and her son will owe $0 income tax on the Roth IRA for the first 10 years after he inherits it.

Conclusion: these advanced IRA strategies can add millions of net wealth to a family.

Free live seminars: 6 p.m. March 22 followed by free dinner or 10 a.m. March 25 followed by free lunch. Both are at Hyatt Place, 3535 W. Chandler Blvd. Chandler. Topic is “Advanced IRA Strategies: Secrets of Roth, Multi-Generational, and Self-Directed IRAs”

Free tour/workshop: 9 a.m.-noon April 1 at Solar Reefer (Refrigeration) Factory. Topic is “How Solar Reefers can Reduce Taxes to $0 and earn a steady 1014%.” Lots of tasty refreshments served, Location is at Advanced Energy Machines: 4245 E. Norcroft St., Mesa, a quarter mile southwest of McDowell and Greenfield roads.

To RSVP for the seminars or schedule a free consultation, contact Dr. Harold Wong at 480-706-0177 or harold_wong@ hotmail.com. His website isdrharoldwong.com. Dr. Wong earned his Ph.D. in economics at University of California/ Berkeley and has appeared on over 400 TV/radio programs.

Chandler Sports Hall of Fame inducts latest class

BY ZACH ALVIRA Arizonan Sports Editor

Seton Catholic girls’ basketball coach Karen Self’s tenure speaks for itself.

She’s won multiple state championships with the Lady Sentinels and is in the middle of a run to the coveted Open Division state title this season, which will crown a true champion among Arizona’s top three conferences.

Self was among the five individuals who were part of the 2023 Chandler Sports Hall of Fame induction class. The ceremony to honor them was held Saturday, Feb. 18 at Hamilton High School. It highlighted their achievements in athletics for the city. It also gave special recognition to Athletic Trainer Justin Deer and Athletic Announcer Dave Nardi.

“It’s kind of surreal,” Self said. “It’s just another opportunity to make connections with people and get a chance to meet people I don’t think I would’ve gotten a chance to meet before.”

Along with Self, Hamilton alum and wheelchair rugby star Joe Jackson, former Hamilton and Arizona State basket-

ball star Eric Jacobsen, former Hamilton and Alabama volleyball star Brittany Kouandjio and former Chandler and current Los Angeles Rams quarterback

Bryce Perkins were part of this year’s Hall of Fame class.

Self is currently near the end of her 30th season coaching girls’ basketball at

Seton Catholic, where she has won 12 state championships.

She’s already a part of the Arizona Coaches Hall of Fame and in November was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame. Along with Self’s induction into the Chandler Sports Hall of Fame last Saturday, her Seton Catholic championship teams received special recognition during the ceremony.

“There’s so many people that go into building up our program,” Self said. “Yeah, my name is at the top but it’s really about the people that helped us get there. It’s been a fun time.”

Jackson’s life was turned upside down when he was paralyzed from the waist down after a breaking his C6 vertebrae during a practice for the Hamilton football program on Nov. 1, 2005.

He didn’t let that set him back, however, as he quickly adapted to a new way of life.

Through Ability360, a gym that focuses on accessibility for people with disabilities, Jackson took up wheelchair rugby

see HALL page 32

Valley Christian wins back-to-back 3A titles

BY SPENCER DUROSE Arizonan Contributing Writer

The kings of the 3A division showed no mercy in Saturday night’s 3A state championship matchup versus Monument Valley. The Trojans of Valley Christian fueled off of a near-perfect second half to claim a 65-44 victory. After a slow start, the Trojans found themselves down 15-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Luke Shaw, the team’s leading scorer this year, put up nine points alone. He quickly followed that up with another nine in the second quarter, nailing three 3s.

Shaw, who played for the Trojans state

championship team last year, totaled 34 points on the night. He expressed how much this win meant to him.

“It’s amazing,” Shaw said. “God’s blessed me with this amazing team, this amazing program, these coaches. Every guy on this team I love to death, and we just came out here as brothers and that got us the win.”

The Trojans led at half 30-23 after a much better second quarter.

Valley Christian followed up its second quarter performance with an even better third quarter. The team went up by as much as 15, ending the quarter leading 48-38.

Head coach Greg Haagsma attributes the team’s versatility as the main reason for their second-half surge.

“The game plan was we’ve got great offensive players, and we’ve got Caleb Danseizen and Jake Harrison who absolutely love to play defense,” he said. “We have guys who fill roles and we value every role as being important on this team whether it’s a defensive role, offensive role, or rebounding role. They all do their roles well.”

The Trojans continued the pressure heading into the fourth, leaving no questions behind as to who the better team was. The team put up 27 points, allowing the Mustangs just six.

From there they cruised to victory and the celebration was on.

The win marks the eighth state championship won by the Trojans under Haagsma. The team has appeared in nine title games overall.

It’s quickly become one of the powerhouse programs in the state, let alone at the 3A level. It’s attracted multiple star players and in recent year, star coaches to mentor the players alongside Haagsma, too.

Assistant coach, and longtime hall of fame head coach in the state of Washington, Roger De Boer described how

see TITLES page 31

Chandler Hall of Fame 2023 inductees Eric Jacobsen, Joe Jackson, Brittany Kouandjio, Bryce Perkins and Karen Self at the 18th Chandler Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023 at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)

blessed he was for the opportunity to start coaching for the program just two years ago.

“Our family has found a home,” De Boer said. “This community’s been so good to us and Greg has been so great to me as far as being a friend and giving me a ton of leash as a coach and allowing us to put in a lot of our systems. I just appreciate this community so very much for embracing our family. Being around great people is what it’s about for us and our family.”

Valley Christiane ends its season with a 30-2 record, one of the best all-time for a team that many counted out due to their young age.

The win could only simply be described by Haagsma as emotional.

“For me, obviously I love it. But this is about the kids,” Haagsma said. “I get nervous because I want it so bad for them.”

Valley Christian’s boys’ basketball team secured its second straight 3A state championship on Saturday, Feb. 25, beating Monument Valley. (Spencer Durose/Arizonan Contributor)

with the Phoenix Heat, a club that has won three national championships and helped lead Team USA to a silver medal in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics.

“It feels great, I did not expect this,” Jackson said of his induction. “Like Karen Self said, it’s all about the hard work you do that people don’t see. It’s an honor.”

Jackson chose not to harp on his injury in high school.

Instead, he used to it mentor and become an inspiration for others with similar disabilities. He became the spokesperson for Saguaro Scuba, a company created in 2016 that specializes in adaptive scuba diving.

He also helped found the Joe Jackson Foundation, a non-profit that strives inform and enable children with spinal cord injuries. Jackson has become an inspiration to those in Chandler and beyond.

“I just put my head down and I worked,” Jackson said. “For me to pave the way for other kids or adults who get hurt and ask, ‘Well, now what do I do?’ Find a sport. I promise it’ll change your life.”

Jacobson starred at Hamilton during his high school basketball career. A 6-foot-10 power forward when he played for the Huskies, he went on to play four years for the Sun Devils and after going undrafted in 2016, played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in NBA Summer League.

Jacobsen has since had tenures with the Adelaide 36ers from Australia and the Fukuoza Rizing, Sendai 89ers and Ibaraki Robots in Japan.

Like Jacobsen, Perkins has also made a career out of his respective sport.

The former Chandler High School standout quarterback had a rough go in college, suffering a neck injury at Arizona State before transferring to Arizona Western College to resurrect his career. But that’s exactly what he did.

He went on to become a starter at the University of Virginia, leading the Cavaliers to the Orange Bowl in his final season. He was undrafted out of college but has found a roster spot with the Rams. He now joins former Chandler teammate N’Keal Harry in the Chandler Sports Hall of Fame almost a year to the day he won a Super Bowl ring.

Kouandjio was a star at Hamilton under Sharon Vanis, one of the many the legendary volleyball coach has mentored during her time with the Huskies. She was a four-year varsity player at Hamilton and went on to play at Alabama, where she continued her success on the court.

She was a four-year starter for the Alabama and is now top-10 all-time for kills, digs, attacks, career points and matches played for the Crimson Tide.

“Looking back on my career, it’s a reflection of the bits and pieces coach Vanis has taught,” Kouandjio said. “It’s all little ingredients for everything and this is it.”

Her accomplishments on one of volleyball’s biggest stages earned her the honor of being inducted into the Chandler Sports Hall of Fame.

“I was very shocked to be honored, be nominated,” Kouandjio said. “When I read the other submissions, I felt very humbled.”

A FRIEND IN ME