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From Uptown to Downtown, covering Chandler like the sun.
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS ............................... 12 College going digital for fall.
COMMUNITY ........... 20 Like father, like daughter.
BUSINESS...................... 23
New business jumping for joy. NEWS........................................ 2 COMMUNITY....................... 20 BUSINESS...............................23 CLASSIFIEDS..........................28
FREE | chandlernews.com
June 28, 2020
CUSD approves reopening plan, delays start BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer
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he Chandler Unified School District plans to give students the option of returning to classrooms or completing their coursework online for the upcoming school year. The district’s Governing Board spent nearly six hours Wednesday probing administrators on the logistics of reopening all 42 Chandler Unified’s campuses by Aug. 5 before narrowly voting 3-2 to authorize a plan that essentially gives students the option to determine whether they feel safe
enough to return to school amid the pandemic. Students have been asked to inform the district by July 10 whether they wish to attend school online or in-person for the 2020-2021 school year. Board members Lara Bruner and Lindsay Love rejected the district’s two-option plan over safety concerns about allowing too many students to return to campus. “I can’t support this plan,” Bruner said, “I wish that I could support it. I want kids back on campus.” If not enough students voluntarily enroll in online schooling, Bruner said it would be
impossible to achieve any type of social distancing within the schools and the district could find itself in violation of state and county health guidelines. “Our high schools are going to be shut down,” Bruner predicted. Bruner, a teacher for the last 28 years, proposed an alternative contingency plan that would account for the prospect of not enough kids choosing to take online classes. She said the district could split the in-person students into two groups: one would come to school on Monday and Wednes-
see SCHOOLS page 3
Chandler mask policy welcomed, criticized BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer
C
handler’s new mandatory-mask policy didn’t have much impact on local businesses like Serrano’s Mexican Restaurants. The long-time, family-owned business had already been requiring its employees to wear face masks when they reopened its Chandler location in early June. CEO Ric Serrano said the recent mask proclamations passed by cities across the Valley haven’t changed how his restaurants operate and only remind customers that they’re expected to wear a mask whenever they’re not seated at a table. “Restaurants are in a unique position
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Waiter Ernesto Escamilla wears a mask and gloves while taking an order at Serrano's Mexican Restaurant in downtown Chandler. (Pablo Robles/Arizonan Staff Photographer)
since you can’t wear a mask while eating and drinking,” he noted. “That’s why the social-distancing practices we’ve put into place – like spaced out seating, reduced capacity and comprehensive table sanitization after each party – remain important.” Other local restaurants, like Ginger Monkey and SanTan Brewing Company, were also already requiring staff to cover their faces well in advance of the city’s decision to mandate mask-wearing in public places. Schools, businesses and public facilities across Chandler have spent this last week adopting new masking requirements intended to curb Arizona’s rising number of COVID-19 cases.
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see MASK page 8