Gilbert students making gains
Inside: Health, Wellness section
PAGE 3
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS................................ 4 Higley performing center coming back to life.
COMMUNITY........ 26 Gilbert student makes hundreds of cranes for hospice.
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Sunday, April 18, 2021
GPS OKs raises, foresees $9.8M shortfall BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
T
wo weeks after pink-slipping 152 teachers, Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board unanimously approved 2-percent pay raises and 3-percent stipends for next school year, totaling $8.9 million. District officials made clear, however, that the two actions were distinctly different from one another. “The question that I’ve received is ‘why
are you giving raises when you’ve just announced that you’re reducing employment?” board member Reed Carr said at the April 13 meeting. “As much as they seem related to some, they’re actually two different drivers. “One is we have to align our staffing to student numbers. The other is we have to remain competitive with neighboring districts to keep employees and treat them fairly.” The Board voted March 30 not to renew the contracts of 152 teachers next school year due to declining enrollment, made
Residents of Finley Farms disturbed by higher-density plan
worst during the pandemic. For the 202122 academic year, the district expects 2,144 fewer students in the classroom since 201920. Carr said the district spent the last two to three years trying to align its compensation to ensure it can compete for employees. “If we backtrack now, we fall behind again and that creates a two-, three- and even four-year fix that we’re constantly behind not knowing if future budgets or future allo-
Stone’s throw
BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
BUSINESS................ 28 Gilbert chiropractor likes outdoor practice.
COMMUNITY.......................................26 BUSINESS.............................................28 SPORTS.......................................30 GETOUT...................................... 32 CLASSIFIED..........................................36
F
inley Farms resident Kathleen Lawson knew development some day would go in behind her single-story home on a 3.54-acre infill site on Greenfield Road, north of Mesquite Street. But what she didn’t expect was Cottage Lane, a proposed community of 21 single-family houses surrounded on three sides by Manor at Finley Farms. “I don’t want the high density,” the 23-year resident said. “There are 18 houses surrounding this property that
see COTTAGE page 6
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see SCHOOLS page 5
Donald Kavanagh tossed a stone weighing around 20 pounds like it was a basketball during the Highland Games that closed out Gilbert’s Global Village Festival earlier this month. (Kevin Hurley/GSN Staff Photographer)
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