Town bond cost worries
Ostrich Fest returning
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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS................................. 7 Huge development eyed for hospital district.
COMMUNITY......... 16 Gilbert yard sale will help guys like him.
BUSINESS................. 19 New business puts healthy pet food at your door.
COMMUNITY....................................... 16 BUSINESS............................................. 19 OPINION.................................................21 SPORTS.................................................. 22 GETOUT.................................................26 CLASSIFIEDS.......................................34
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE OF GILBERT) | GilbertSunNews.com
Sunday, March 6, 2022
Gilbert schools get high marks on spending GSN NEWS STAFF
G
ilbert’s three main school districts spent three quarters or nearly three quarters of their budget in the classroom or supporting students in the first full school year dominated by COVID-19, according to a report by the Arizona Auditor General released last week. That report shows Gilbert Public Schools led with 75.2% of its budget devoted to a combination of in-classroom instruction, student support of various kinds and instructional support such as technology and librarians while Chandler Unified spent
74.3% of its budget on similar activities and Higley Unified spent 73%. Among those three categories of instructional spending, Higley put slightly more into classroom with 62.3%, compared to Chandler’s 61.7% and GPS’ 61.6%. On the other hand, GPS spent 9.8% of its total budget on student support – including counselors, audiologists, speech pathologists, nurses, social workers and attendance services – while Chandler Unified devoted 7.8% and Higley 6%. At the same time, instructional support commanded 4.8% of Chandler’s budget and 4.7% of Higley’s while GPS devoted 3.8% in that category.
Massive light industrial project eyed in Gilbert
“The report positively reflects our goal as a district to continue to drive instructional improvement and student success by prioritizing dollars to the classroom.,” district spokeswoman Dawn Antestenis said in an email. “Fiscal year 2021 was the first year of the 15% override where GPS, with the support of our community, committed to adding social workers and mental health counselors to our schools. “The adding of these resources resulted in the increase to ‘student support.’ In addition, due to the additional override dollars,
Wildcats rejoice
see SPENDING page 4
BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
A
fter sitting undeveloped for over a decade, a large chunk of land in Gilbert set aside for jobs may soon host light industrial uses. IndiCap plans to seek a major General Plan amendment and rezone on 292 agricultural acres on Power Road between Elliot and Warner roads, adjacent to the eastern edge of the Morrison Ranch master-planned community. The developer anticipates going before the Council for approval at the end of the year. “It’s one of the last parcels in town identified for employment,” said attorney Adam Baugh, representing IndiCap at a neighborhood meeting March 1. “At the end of the day Gilbert long envisioned employment on the property. After 13 years, we are excited to finally bring this forward to the town.”
see INDUSTRIAL page 3
The Mesquite High School Wildcats hoist their trophy after defeating Salpointe Catholic in the AIA 4A boys basketball state championship game Feb. 28 at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum. For a full report, see Page 22. (Dave Minton/GSN Staff Photographer)
