The Chandler Arizonan - 05-31-2020

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Chandler OKS new budget

9 Chandler got virus

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From Uptown to Downtown, covering Chandler like the sun.

An edition of the East Valley Tribune

INSIDE

This Week

GRADS ............................16

See tributes to this year's grads.

NEWS ............................... 12

Chandler Museum developing tributes to vets.

BUSINESS.......................

36

A new kind of job: Chief Sanitizer.

NEWS........................................ 3 COMMUNITY........................33 BUSINESS.............................. 36 SPORTS.................................. 38 CLASSIFIEDS......................... 39

FREE | chandlernews.com

MAY 31, 2020

COVID-19 cloud hangs over the next school year BY PAUL MARYNIAK Arizonan Executive Editor

Perhaps the most significant announcement Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman will ever make was expected this weekend as she rolls out guidelines for reopening schools this August. But those guidelines, which Hoffman promised by May 30 – after the Arizonan's deadline – are only the beginning for districts as they peer into a murky future that’s only about eight weeks away. Reopening is not something that district officials are just starting to think about now that report cards have been completed and

Elsa Magee checks out laptops that were distributed at Chandler Unified headquarters for use by students in summer school. Even more laptops will be needed for teachers. See page 8. (Pablo Robles/Staff Photographer)

virtual graduations concluded. Chandler Unified Superintendent Camille Casteel said the district is planning for the prospect that some students won’t be ready to return to school in July and may wish to continue learning virtually from home. There are other needs CUSD is trying to prepare for in a short amount of time, Casteel said. “We’re like flying the plane and building it at the same time,” she said.

see SCHOOLS page 2

$29M in new money may spur help for Chandler businesses BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer

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handler’s Industrial Development Authority is exploring the possibility of providing economic resources for local businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. And the governor’s release of more than $29 million in federal pandemic relief funds may boost hopes for that help. The nonprofit entity has up to $1 million in revenue it has been collecting over the years by helping businesses obtain taxexempt financing and is pondering whether to give some of that money back to the business community. During a meeting on May 12, the author-

ity’s board of commissioners discussed the feasibility of allowing small businesses to apply for a grant or loan – similar to what IDA’s in other cities have begun implementing in order to stave off any economic hardship caused by the pandemic. Phoenix’s Industrial Development Authority is handing out $10,000-grants to small businesses that need help paying rent or utilities to stay afloat. But one major advantage Phoenix has over the Valley’s smaller cities is having access to direct financial support from the federal government. Phoenix received $293 million through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Phoenix City Council recently approved fiving $5 million to its IDA for

grants up to $10,000 to businesses. Last week, Gov. Doug Ducey announced the allocation to cities of $441 million, a quarter of the more than $1.9 billion Arizona is getting in coronavirus relief dollars. Most of the rest, he said, will be set aside for future needs of the state, including the possibility of replenishing the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund if it runs dry. Matt Burdick, a city spokesman, said Chandler is in the process of evaluating how it might spend its allotment and will be getting feedback from City Council in the coming weeks. At least two council members – Mark Stewart and Jeremy McClymonds have indi-

see GRANT page 6


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