May 22, 2022 | www.santansun.com
Relentlessly local coverage of Southern Chandler
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Chandler teen deaths provoke mental health alarm BY PAUL MARYNIAK Executive Editor
The deaths of two Chandler teens last week – one an apparent suicide and the other possibly drug-related – made for at least six Valley teens who have taken their own lives or fatally overdosed since late March. That trend alarms a Chandler educator who has advocated for more than five years for teens’ mental health and has pleaded for parents, schools and government at all levels to pay more attention to the growing number of young people in crisis. The deaths came amid a warning
from Teen Lifeline, the nonprofit teen suicide prevention hotline and service, that parents of Arizona teenagers must be particularly vigilant about their children’s mental health at this time of year because more young people tend to get depressed for a variety of reasons. “In the summer of 2017, we lost four students to suicide in 90 days in a neighboring school community” said advocate Katey McPherson, referring to Higley and Queen Creek school districts. “This is known as an echo cluster’ that if not addressed using prevention science, can lead to contagion. "In May of 2021, two CUSD students – during this very same week of the
school year – died, one by suicide in a public venue and the other overdosed on fetanyl," she said."Vigils were held. Thoughts and prayers were said. And here we all are, still whistling by the graveyard. “It’s as if kids dying is now normalized,” an angry and frustrated McPherson said. She said recent student vigils and protests underscore that “the kids are tired of the lack of care and concern for their well-being. Students planned a protest at Chandler City Hall today, May 22, circulating social media posts that said they are specifically targeting “bullying in
schools and issues concerning minorities.” Additionally, a vigil was scheduled at Chandler City Hall last Friday in the wake of a Hamilton High student’s death. The student appears to have recently transferred to Valley Christian. That death May 16, as well as that of a Chandler High sophomore who died by suicide last weekend, followed by a few weeks the deaths of two Brophy College Prep students, one by suicide and the other an overdose. A Deer Valley high school student also died by suicide within the last month. An Arcadia High student died by suicide in See
SUICIDE on page 3
CUSD board OKs sub pay contract, kitchen re-do BY KEN SAIN Staff Writer
During the end of 2021, Chandler Unified School District had a substitute teacher problem. With graduations coming at the end of the month, it is no longer an issue. The CUSD Governing Board authorized spending an additional $3 million May 11 to address that problem. The board approved increasing the contract with Educational Services, Inc. (ESI) from $5.5 million to $8.5 million. Lana Berry, the district’s chief financial officer, said that amount covers all the increased costs incurred during this school year. “This year, with COVID, we had a number of absences due to illness, and so we used more subs,” Berry said. “We also increased the rate during that period of time to try and attract more subs to come to our school district.” In January, the Governing Board increased substitute teacher pay from $115 to $145 a day, relying on ESI to do the recruiting. Those steps worked and helped the district get through a period of high absences. “We were pretty high January through March, but since then our numbers have been back to normal,” said Dr. Wendy Nance, assistant superintendent in charge of human resources. At one point during the winter, 600 teachers and staff called out sick. Still, Nance said ESI was able to recruit enough substitute teachers that they were able to weather the storm. “We blasted out to all of our current substitutes and the people they knew who were interested, or the people in their front offices that had the certification but may be in a different type of job, and we helped them access their
substitute certificates and seemed to get them on board pretty quick.” In other business, the Governing Board approved spending more than $4.4 million to rebuild the district’s main kitchen facility. The building was constructed in the early 1990s and was meant to serve about a third of the estimated 40,000 meals they make each day now. The kitchen equipment has reached its end of life estimate. CUSD plans to begin demolition later this month once schools let out and get the building ready for major equipment upgrades. The entire cost for construction and new equipment is estimated to be about $7 million. Construction will extend into the new school year. The kitchen staff will have limited access to the building, mostly to its large storage freezer. Most of the cooking for district schools will be done at a number of different schools instead of in the centralized location. Tom Dunn, the district’s director of construction, said he hopes the kitchen staff can return to their main kitchen in late December or early January. He said the project would probably not be completed until next summer when they expect the arrival of a natural gas generator. The board also approved spending about $3.7 million to improve the kitchen and lunch room seating at Hamilton High School. Currently, there is room for only 320 students to eat in the lunch room. About 1,280 students eat lunch at the same time. After the changes, the lunch room should seat about 936. The district plans to enclose the outdoor seating area and remove some raised seating area to create the additional space. See
SUBS on page 4
Roy Conrad of Chandler stands in front of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Gilbert, which last month was renamed after his son, Staff Sgt. Alex Conrad, who died in combat in Somalia in 2018. Roy memorializes his son in many ways, including with a decal on the rear of his motorcycle. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)
Chandler dad never forgets his fallen warrior son BY KEN SAIN Staff Writer
Roy Conrad, father of the late Staff Sergeant Alex Conrad of Chandler, has been busy since his son was killed in combat in Somalia in 2018. There are a lot of Gold Star Family events and dedications he has attended while he also volunteers with a
number of organizations. “I was talking to one of the dads and I said, ‘You know, when does it slow down?’” Roy recalled. “And because his son was killed almost 10 years ago, he says, ‘You know, it slows down when you want it to slow down. OK?’ And he
F E AT U R E D STO R I E S CUSD raises fees on activities, daycare. . . . . . . . . . .News . . . . . . . . . .Page 16 Housing market shifting from sellers . . . . . . . . . . . .Real Estate . . . . Page 23 New hotel brings Hawaii to Chandler . . . . . . . . . . . .Business. . . . . . . Page 34 High fives for Chandler girls' cooking . . . . . . . . . . . .NEIGHBORS . . . . . Page 41
See
MEMORIAL on page 17
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