Amid budget hurdles, Burbank school officials brainstorm topics to discuss with City Council
With a joint meeting coming up between the Burbank Unified school board and City Council, school board members recently brainstormed topics such as fiscal viability to discuss with their city counterparts.
Board member Armond Aghakhanian said his main concern is the city’s budget and how its projected financial shortfalls could be detrimental to the district and its partnership programs.
Aghakhanian also noted a lack of economic development in the city.
“Burbank hasn’t been developing. A lot of our people working in Burbank are from Glendale, and they’re spending their tax money there and that concerns me,” he said during the meeting.
While Steve Ferguson, board president, acknowledged both the district and city are struggling financially, he said he was open to discussing ways to generate more revenue — even a possible sales-tax hike.
“I do believe [a] sales-tax [increase] impacts low-income families disproportionately, and to balance the city budget on that back concerns me greatly,” Ferguson said. “I don’t want to put that pinch on families to help our schools, but I’m willing to listen and hear what’s going on and what the plan is.”
Meanwhile, board member Charlene Tabet suggested a monthly joint committee to hear regular updates.
During a board meeting in March, Burbank Unified officials sent letters requesting meetings with state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) and Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale).
The letters were in response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal and the $3.5 million less it could mean for the district than school officials originally expected.
During that same meeting, David Jaynes, assistant superintendent of administrative services, reviewed a budget report, and he projected a $2-million deficit at the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year.
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