The Mesa Tribune - Zone 1 - 1.16.2022

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Food wars continue / P. 4

Setting the table / P. 8

An edition of the East Valley Tribune

MPS may mandate masks as COVID cases soar

INSIDE

This Week

COMMUNITY ...........

BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Executive Editor

11

Mesa women ramp up mountain biker club.

SPORTS.................

22

Mesa High soccer team is poised for special run.

GETOUT.................. 25 Barrett-Jackson auto auction ready for the highest bidders. COMMUNITY ................................ 11 BUSINESS....................................... 16 OPINION......................................... 19 SPORTS........................................... 22 GET OUT......................................... 25 CLASSIFIED.................................... 29 Zone

Sunday, January 16, 2022

FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | TheMesaTribune.com

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s COVID-19 transmission levels throughout the East Valley skyrocketed to unprecedented proportions last week, Mesa Public Schools raised the specter of mask mandates at individual school sites. In a letter to parents, district Assistant Superintendent Holly Williams said masks will be required for 10 days at schools where 3%

Mesa Council OKs $4.5M to bridge ‘digital divide’

of its staff-student population tested positive for the virus while principals at other schools might impose other mitigation strategies on events, such as performances. Those limitations could range from limiting audience sizes by scheduling an event multiple times to moving events outside or online to cancelling them all together. “This week we have seen a significant increase of student and staff COVID-19 cases across the district,” Williams wrote. “Staff ab-

senteeism has disrupted our ability to deliver some services in a timely manner.” She added that the district would “increase mitigation strategies as needed.” MPS has had an optional mask policy since last spring. The advisory was issued as the latest data from the county health department showed transmission levels at their highest since the

A hand up

see VIRUS page 6

BY GARY NELSON Tribune Contributor

T

he City of Mesa is preparing to spend $4.5 million to ensure that students on the city’s west side can join the 21st century. City Council on Jan. 10 approved the expenditure as part of a broader citywide effort to attack the so-called “digital divide” in which less affluent parts of town lack the internet access that wealthier neighborhoods enjoy. Numerous studies have shown that students suffer without access to the information highway. The Forbes Technology Council reported in December, for example, that “without the ability to connect, … students obviously cannot demonstrate the same academic achievement as their peers.”

see DIGITAL page 6

Volunteer Christina Avila last week helped Red Mountain High School senior Ivy Trowers and Susan Jenni at the Mesa Drive-Up, a program aimed at helping East Valley seniors take a vital first step in applying for financial aid for higher education. For a look at why events like this are so important, see the story on Page 3. (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)

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