CUSD calls override vote
Higley: Back to normal
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An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Sunday, June 27, 2021
Tutors, bonuses among GPS pandemic spending plans
INSIDE
This Week
BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
NEWS................................ 4 Gilbert ready to host jampacked July 4 party.
BUSINESS................. 19 New foodie hot spot in Gilbert brewing.
SPORTS.......................22 Gilbert hoopsters shine at tournament.
COMMUNITY....................................... 14 BUSINESS............................................. 19 SPORTS.................................................. 22 PUZZLE..................................................24 CLASSIFIED.......................................... 25
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H
iring on-demand tutors, giving a onetime 3-percent employee pay and updating school curriculum are some of the spending proposals for Gilbert Public Schools’ $22-million share of the latest round of pandemic relief funding. The GPS Governing Board reviewed and gave input on staff’s proposals that totaled $28.12 million. The board is expected to sign off on a final spending plan later this summer. The money comes from the third round of
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds approved by Congress in the American Rescue plan this year. Two other rounds of ESSER funding were distributed last year. “I do think there are many wonderful things on this list and I would find it hard to prioritize because it looks like we have more ideas than we have funding,” board member Jill Humpherys said. “But I do really believe that professional development and curriculum adoption are ways of helping out students in their learning.”
The district is obligated to spend 20 percent, or $4.4 million, of its allocation for intervention programs to address learning loss. The remaining $17.6 million is left up to the district’s discretion on how to spend it. The district’s proposals for addressing learning loss total $5.21 million. According to Dr. Barbara Newman, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, they include: • Adopting English Language Arts for 10th12th graders at a cost of $2 million; • On-demand tutoring for 7th-12th graders
Splish splash Dog rescue led to $1M claim against Gilbert PD
see GPS page 8
BY CECILIA CHAN GSN Managing Editor
A
disabled veteran was arrested at his Gilbert home and slapped with a theft charge after he took in a stray dog. Now, Douglas Wright, 31, has filed a $1 million notice of claim against the Gilbert Police Department and two officers for damages he suffered from the “improper” arrest. The claim, a precursor to a civil lawsuit, was rejected. Wright faces a pre-trial conference July 22 at Gilbert Municipal Court. “The Town of Gilbert denies the allegations contained in the notice of claim,” the Town Attorney’s office said in a statement. “The Town of Gilbert is confident that when the actual facts come to light, the Gilbert Police Department will be vindicated from the al-
see DOG page 6
And no bath necessary as Kingston Benno, 5, left, and Joseph Fenstermaker,7, frolicked in th splash pad last week at Gilbert Regional Park. (Pablo Robles/GSN Staff Photographer)
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