Good morning, Chandler. School's out across CUSD and the libraries flip to their summer schedule this week, so here's what's on the radar to start June.
- 🚌 A CUSD-EVIT dispute threatens vocational students' rides. A fight over transportation could leave hundreds of students without a way to their trade programs.
- 🏞️ The city is rewriting its parks, recreation, and libraries master plan. The update will steer where Chandler builds and spends for the next decade.
- 📚 Summer reading kicks off at the libraries. A dinosaur-themed launch Tuesday, plus Monday movies and free popcorn.
- 🏫 Chandler High marks a 1949 desegregation milestone. The school revisited the story of Willie Arbuckle.
- 🎟️ Across the Valley. Dodgers at Chase Field, Yellowcard, and a founding Beach Boy at the MIM.
A transportation fight could strand CUSD's trade students
A dispute between Chandler Unified and the East Valley Institute of Technology over busing could leave hundreds of CUSD students without a ride to their vocational programs.
Key facts:
- Who's affected: CUSD students enrolled at EVIT, the regional career and technical school where East Valley districts send teens for trades like nursing, welding, and automotive.
- The issue: transportation. Without a resolution, hundreds of students could lose the bus service that gets them to EVIT campuses.
- The pushback: CUSD Governing Board member Kurt Rohrs went public against his own district's handling of it, in an opinion piece titled "Chandler Unified throws its kids under the bus."
EVIT is not a side program for the families who use it. For students building toward a licensed trade or a certification before graduation, the bus is the difference between finishing the program and dropping it. A board member airing the fight in print, rather than settling it in a meeting, is a sign this one is not close to resolved.
What to watch: the district's next move on busing before the fall schedule locks. Details. Rohrs's opinion.
The week ahead
Summer reading takes over the libraries this week, with a dinosaur theme running through most of it.
- 🦕 Summer reading kick-off with Dino Crew. Downtown Library, Tuesday at 10 AM. Use the Chandler Blvd entrance to skip the Frye Rd. closure. Details.
- 🍿 Monday movie matinee: Dinosaur, plus free popcorn. Hamilton Library, Monday at 2 PM. Details.
- 💼 Job Center. Free resume and job-search help every Monday, 10 AM to noon, Downtown Library. Details.
- 🦅 American eagle painting. An America 250 paint session at Hamilton Library, Tuesday at 5 PM. Details.
- 🗣️ Talk Time. In-person English conversation group, Downtown Library, Tuesday at 6 PM. Details.
- 🤝 Get connected to help. A city outreach navigator at the Downtown Library, Wednesday mornings, for anyone needing housing or valley resources. Details.
Daily storytimes for the little ones continue at Sunset, Hamilton, and Downtown, most around 9:15 to 10:30 AM. The Discovery Library mobile branch is out at The Oasis on Monday and Chandler Ridge Apartments on Wednesday.
Around Chandler
🏞️ The city is updating its long-range plan for parks, recreation, and libraries. Community Services director John Sefton is leading a master plan refresh that maps out where Chandler invests in fields, trails, and library branches over the coming years. It is the document that decides which projects get funded first. Details.
From the schools
🏫 Chandler High marked a 1949 desegregation milestone. The school revisited the story of Willie Arbuckle and the year Chandler High integrated, a piece of the district's history worth knowing for families across CUSD. Details.
🎓 Sun Lakes Rotary honored area students and educators. The club's annual recognition went out to standout students and teachers from the south Chandler and Sun Lakes area. Details.
📅 ACP goes dark for the summer. Arizona College Prep's campus closes for its summer schedule starting Friday, June 5. Details.
Around the Valley
A few picks worth leaving Chandler for this week.
⚾ Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers. Chase Field, Monday at 6:40 PM. The Dodgers only swing through Phoenix a handful of times a year, and this is one of them. Tickets.
🎸 Yellowcard. Arizona Financial Theatre, Monday at 7 PM. An "Ocean Avenue" nostalgia night for anyone who came up in the 2000s. Tickets.
🎤 The Kid Laroi. Arizona Financial Theatre, Tuesday at 7:30 PM. Tickets.
🎶 Al Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band. Musical Instrument Museum, Wednesday at 7 PM. A founding Beach Boy in one of the smaller rooms he plays. Tickets.