The 2024 State of the Schools event was put on by the Burbank Arts and Education Foundation (BAEF) this past week at the Garry Marshall Theatre that brought out dignitaries, community leaders, parents, and Burbank Unified School District (BUSD) administrators, teachers, and staff.
The annual event aims to bring awareness to the current funding status and direction of arts and education within BUSD. BAEF is a non-profit organization that exists to engage and inspire the community to invest funds in BUSD by supporting the diverse education needs of the students. To date the foundation has awarded over $1.3 million in grant money to schools in the district, and aims to give over $100,000 by the end of this school year.
The evening began with a beautiful reception in the Garry Marshall lobby with charcuterie cups, an open bar, and desserts crafted by the John Burroughs High School Advanced Culinary Arts students. One of their many confectionaries was mini peanut butter and jelly on petits toast. The students were dipping small scoops of jelly into sodium sugar water which coated and solidifying the jelly into little balls that were then added on top of the peanut butter.
Following the reception, guests were invited inside the theatre and welcomed by 6th grade students from Dolores Huerta Middle School, Greta Kelly and Lucineh Pangman. The Luther Burbank Middle School “Starlight Choir” took to the stage with over 30 students singing a beautiful A cappella rendition of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” by The Tokens.
BAEF chair, Brenda Etterbeek, thanked the generous sponsors of the night’s event. “BUSD is what it is because of the people who make up its rich and diverse community,” said Etterbeek, who then introduced the foundation’s new Director of Development, Gavin Cho. Cho who has only been in the position for a month has hit the ground running and made significant impact through BAEF.
Born and raised in Burbank, Cho and his family specifically moved to the city for the world class school district and public education, but fears that the statistics BUSD is facing is pushing the district behind. “This is a scary thought, I’ll admit, but this is also the greatest part of the challenge that we face, that the destiny, the future of our school district, lies in our hands, the folks who are here, who are committed to our schools,” said Cho. “That’s why this foundation exists. We have full control over our ability to provide our schools with the money that it needs to not just survive, but to thrive.”
Cho explained that in 2023, California reigned as the largest economy in the United States and fifth largest in the world, but lags significantly in the national average when it comes to education funding. In the 2022-2023 school year BUSD spent $5,000 less per pupil than the national average and $6,000 per less than our neighboring districts, which he explained is just how our state funding system works. Cho then played a video titled “Why Do Burbank Schools Need Your Help?” which was animated, scored, and performed by Burbank students.
The video shared an eye-opening view of California educational funding and how it affects the students right here in Burbank. Teachers do not receive Social Security when they retire and instead they receive a pension, but California mismanaged the funds and the state is asking the districts to cover those costs and gives schools a budget to work from. The state takes a significant amount back for pensions and that’s when budget cuts happen schools and the loss of technology, electives, art and music begin happening.
BAEF aims to fill the gap of these losses and recently purchased ukuleles for all the elementary schools that didn’t have them so that every district music program could include learning an instrument. Funds also provided diverse libraries for classrooms, as well as the addition of marine biology and a robotics programs. The donations raised by BAEF no matter big or small, all help to create equity in arts and education for Burbank students when state funding fails to reach them.
Superintendent Dr. John Paramo and Burbank School Board President Dr. Emily Weisberg both came to the stage to give their remarks on the issues at hand and to provide a positive outlook for the future of the district and the goals they have for Burbank. “What we really need to be focused on is our primary mission, which is educating children,” said Paramo. “When I think about that, what I think about are the key benchmarks that we know are critical as educators. We know that third grade literacy is extremely important, and if our youngsters are not reading at third grade level.” Another focus Paramo expressed was middle school math and producing eighth graders who are ready to transition and pass ninth grade algebra.
The event boasted a full house with a wide range of public figures including City of Burbank Vice Mayor Nikki Perez, Council members Zizette Mullins and Tamala Takahashi, School Board members Dr. Armond Aghakanian and Charlene Tabet, as well as many representatives from local government offices.
Closing the night, Etterbeek and BAEF Vice-Chair Jennifer Loringo honored impactful people as School Site Heroes. Each school principal nominated a special person and Etterbeek and Loringo announced the honorees and read a touching message from the school’s principals. Framed posters were found around the lobby highlighting each honoree as well.
If you are interested in doing a one-time donation or setting up a recurring donation to BAEF, you can do that at their website https://burbankartsanded.org/ and help the foundation to continue supporting the diverse community of students and keeping Burbank a city with a school district to be proud of.
