Suicide victim’s dad speaks
Council candidates make stand
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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS................................ 4 Gilbert woman’s killing rattles community.
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE OF GILBERT) | GilbertSunNews.com
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Left in lurch by state, districts forge new budgets BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
D
espite a budget stalemate at the state Legislature, two of Gilbert’s school districts are pushing ahead with their spending plans for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Gilbert Public Schools is looking at a proposed $280-million spending plan while Higley Unified School District is considering a $117-million budget. For GPS, the larger of the two districts, the Fiscal Year 2023 budget is 4.4% higher, or $11.8 million more, than the current budget.
“We are proposing a budget that hasn’t been really been approved by the Legislature,” said Bonnie Betz, assistant superintendent of Business Services at the June 7 Governing Board work study. “We are obligated though to adopt a budget by July 15. We expect the governor’s budget to be the most conservative that we would see for Fiscal Year ’23.” The district’s proposed budget assumes the governor’s budget will be adopted and assumes a student loss of 400. The board is expected to adopt the preliminary budget June 21. Betz said nondiscretionary spending in-
creased for the district by a total of $3.42 million in the proposed budget. The increases include $2 million more for special education, $1 million for general inflationary costs for supplies, fuel and utilities, $300,000 for medical insurance premiums and $120,000 for other insurance premiums. “These are things that we are obligated to adopt or to spend or increase,” Betz said. “We have limited control over any of these items.” She pointed out that this was the first time to include nondiscretionary inflation increases in the district’s budget. The district saw an
see SCHOOL page 6
Gilbert blast survivor takes on a mountain BUSINESS................. 18 Dental practice helping lowincome kids.
SPORTS...................... 28 Higley QB embraces leadership pressure.
COMMUNITY........................................15 BUSINESS............................................. 18 OPINION................................................ 22 SPORTS..................................................28 GETOUT..................................................31 CLASSIFIEDS....................................... 35
BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
I
t’s been a painful two-year journey of 47 surgeries, setbacks and rehab for burn survivor Jason Nelson. Today, June 12, the former Gilbert resident begins another journey – hiking 19,341 feet up to the top of Africa’s tallest mountain. “For me personally it’s just a challenge to come from almost dying to standing on top of Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of survivors,” said Nelson, 45, who now lives in Mesa. “It’s hard to resist that.” Joining Nelson are six other burn survivors all treated at Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Health. The trip is mean to raise awareness of what burn survivors can accomplish and also to raise money for the burn facility. The other survivors doing the climb are Isia Cook, 11, a Peoria gymnast who suf-
fered burns over 46 percent of her body from a propane tank accident. She will be hiking with her mother, Aly; Isabella McCune, 12, of Phoenix who suffered severe burns when a fire pit exploded in the family’s front yard; Phoenix Fire Capt. Susie Fawcett, burned in 1998 while fighting a structure fire; Stephanie and Christian Nielson of Mesa, who both survived a 2008 plane crash; and Hailey Boyce, who at 17 suffered severe burns in a vaping accident. Nelson’s near-death mishap happened on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014, while he was doing remodeling work on his house in Gilbert. “I went out to the garage to light a cigarette and there was a natural gas leak in the street that I didn’t know about,” he After 47 surgeries for injuries he sustained in an ex- recalled. “I lit the cigarette and it ignited a plosion at his then-home in Gilbert, Jason Nelson, now fireball in the garage. “I just knew there was an explosion. It living in Mesa, will start today to climb Africa’s highest peak with seven other burn victims form Maricopa County. (Courtesy of Jason Nelson) see JASON page 8