During the course of more than three hours at the most recent Burbank Unified School District meeting on Thursday night at city hall, a few topics were discussed including the feasibility of putting a school bond on the March or November 2024 ballot.
John Isom, from Isom Advisors addressed the five-member board and said that he has worked with 200 school districts over the last eight years, presented his findings after a poll was taken of 400 prospective voters’ perceptions.
He said that these were the typical voters and that they are likely to vote. The survey was conducted from September 22 through September 26.
The results are as follows:
A) Eighty percent of the voters surveyed believe that local voters need to do more to protect the quality of educational facilities in their local public schools.
B) Support for a bond measure before voter education was at 60.5 percent, while after information the support was at 64.8 percent.
C) All projects tested received 60 percent voter support or above.
D) There was some tax rate sensitivity to the highest tax rate tested, while support increased with the lower tax rates.
In summary: Isom Advisors recommend that the district continue to reach out to and educate the community stakeholders and plan on placing a bond measure on an upcoming 2024 ballot.
Early in the meeting, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth graders who received a perfect score on the State Cap Assessment Test were recognized.
There were roughly 90 students who received the perfect score, or the highest attainable score on English and mathematics.
“What an incredible achievement,” said Steve Ferguson, the BUSD president. “We celebrate you as a community.”
Dr. Armond Aghakhanian also brought light to the students. “Congratulations to all of them and it’s important to also recognize that behind every student was a great teacher,” he noted.
Ferguson also joked when he said that we should include this at every BUSD meeting, which brought laughter from his four colleagues, Charlene Tabet, Dr. Emily Weisberg, Aghakhanian and Abby Pontzer Kamkar.
Also on this day, October 5, and every year on this date, it’s United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] World Teachers Day.
Their motto on this day is: “The teachers we need are the teachers we want.”
Three brand new high school representatives spoke eloquently, and they were Paris Tesfu, from Burroughs High, Andranik Bilbulyan, from Burbank High and Isabella Najayan, from Monterey High. Each spoke about what their school is doing.
