May 4–17, 2019 | www.SanTanSun.com
Relentlessly local coverage of Southern Chandler and our neighboring communities
34 schools in Chandler at risk for measles
Boundary shifts coming to some CUSD schools BY KAYLA RUTLEDGE Staff Writer
BY JORDAN HOUSTON Staff Writer
Disproportionate student distribution on some of its campuses has prompted Chandler Unified School District officials to consider boundary changes for elementary schools that could be implemented in the 2021 academic year and possibly build a new school. A final recommendation on the changes will be presented to the school board at its May 8 meeting and a vote on the recommendation could come at its May 22 meeting. Though the district’s overall enrollment rate is declining, three elementary schools – Haley, Patterson and Weinberg – are at risk of being over capacity, officials said. “Those schools right now are projected to be receiving growth. So we just need to make sure that we have a plan that’s viable that redistributes some of the growth patterns and then helps us prepare for not only five years down the road but ten years down the road,” said Frank Narducci, assistant superintendent for elementary instruction. Population shifts and growth along the Val Visa Corridor – an area south of the Santan Loop 202 Freeway on Val Vista Drive – have resulted in uneven distribution of students in the area, officials said. The corridor is situated in Gilbert, but lies within CUSD’s boundaries. South of the freeway along the corridor are 1,300 acres of undeveloped land—the largest pocket yet to be undeveloped within Chandler Unified’s boundaries.
At a time when state vaccination rates are on the decline, 34 elementary schools in Chandler are at risk for a measles outbreak. Using data from the Arizona Department of Health Services, the SanTan Sun News found those 34 Chandler schools are among the 148 East Valley schools with less than 95 percent of their kindergartners vaccinated for Measles Mumps Rubella. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says coverage rates below 95 percent no longer protect those who can’t be vaccinated – such as babies, people with certain medical conditions and pregnant women. Those rates come at a time when measles – once all but eradicated – has become a worldwide epidemic. The data show that 11 of the 34 at-risk schools are part of Chandler Unified. While public schools make up the majority of at-risk schools in the East Valley, charters tend to report the highest rates of vaccine exemptions, according to an analysis of DHS data. The non-district schools make up the bulk of those with coverage rates 85 percent or below – at least 10 percent lower than the safety threshold. Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, who has been studying vaccination rates in Arizona since he was the head of the state health department in 2009, said the statistics illustrate a common theme. “There are a couple of trends we’ve seen in Arizona over the years,” said Humble. “One in general is that it’s the higher income families with higher educational levels – both parents have college degrees and an income of over $100,000 – that are the ones we see choosing not to vaccinate. Not because of bad access to care but just because they decided not to.” Humble no longer works with the department, and continues to research and lobby for pro-vaccine legislation through the APHA. Exemptions are expanding More parents nationwide are opting out of state-required vaccines for non-medical reasons. In Arizona, kindergarten exemptions for
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BOUNDARIES on page 6
Annastacia Alley of Chandler hugs her 18-month-old daughter Parker Jane, whom she knows she will never see grow up. Alley is terminally ill with a rare cancer and had only one wish: take Parker Jane and her older brother on a little vacation to LEGOLAND. (Kimberly Carrillo/Staff Photographer)
A terminally ill mom’s last wish: a vacation with her kids BY KAYLA RUTLEDGE Staff Writer
Promposals Seton Catholic Preparatory seniors Dominic “Dom” Pastore and Abby Klee, who are boyfriend and girlfriend, were elected prom king and queen at Seton’s big dance last month. Many of their peers in Chandler high schools are resorting to “promposals” to fi nd a date to the big dance. (Special to SanTan Sun News)
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Lora Hulsman swung into action quickly when she heard about a terminally ill Chandler mother of two whose last wish was to go on a family trip to LEGOLAND. Hulsman was at a budget meeting for the nonprofit East Valley Women’s League when she learned that Annastacia Alley was terminally ill with cancer – and that there was no money in the group’s budget to help make that wish come true. So, Hulsman took it upon herself to gather the funds. Alley said she chose LEGOLAND because she wanted to go on one last family vacation with her children, husband and mother, hoping the kids – both under 4 – will remember how much fun they had for those couple of days with her. At 29, Alley is the youngest documented person in the world to have no major medical issues and be stricken with neuroendocrine cancer, an aggressive hormone-producing cancer that has developed into tumors and spread from her chest to her liver, bones
and lungs. “I was told [Alley] could pass at any moment, so I knew I needed to get the money fast if we were going to make this happen for her,” said Hulsman. “As a mother and a wife, there was just no choice, you know, we had to make it happen for her somehow.” Hulsman took to Facebook and pleaded for the community to donate to Alley’s cause. She knocked on neighbor’s doors and sent out personal emails to those volunteering for the East Valley See
LEGOLAND on page 14
F E AT U R E STO R I E S Ducey vetos Mesmard’s distracted-driving bill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Community Page 19 Downtown’s treasure trove of vintage goods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . Page 25 Kids are learning to be finance-savvy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEIGHBORS . . . . . . Page 46 Chandler Prep jazz quartert riding high . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 56 Where to take mom for Mothers Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 68
STFF ................................................................... Center Section
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MEASLES on page 8
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