Students Hold Walkout in Burbank to Back Teachers

Students from two Burbank high schools staged a walkout Friday in support of their teachers, who are locked in a contract dispute with the school district.

The students left their classes and rallied in front of Burroughs and Burbank high schools, at the district offices and Burbank City Hall, where they had an impromptu meeting with the mayor.

School officials said nearly half the 1,300 students at Burroughs refused to return to class after a morning break. They stood across the street until police ordered them to disperse. Most gathered later in front of Burbank High, where they encouraged other students to leave class.

School Closed to Traffic

Police closed 3rd Street to traffic in front of the school. Principal William Bertrand used a bullhorn to order the students back to class. They booed him and stayed where they were.

The students, between cheers and shouts of “Walk out!” said in interviews that they hoped to force the district to meet the teachers’ pay demands and avert a strike. They said they believe the district delayed a negotiating session that teachers said had been scheduled for Friday. School officials said it actually had not been planned for Friday.

“It was a misunderstanding,” said Elizabeth Burroughs, an assistant superintendent.

The teachers voted Tuesday to reject the Burbank Unified School District’s latest salary offer and authorized the Burbank Teachers Assn. to call a strike. The action was the latest move in an eight-month struggle.

The district had offered raises of 3% plus a one-time bonus of 3.5% of teachers’ annual salaries. The teachers are seeking raises of 5.5% and a 3.5% bonus. The contract expires June 30.

Notices Posted

Burroughs students said notices about the walkout were posted at their school Thursday afternoon. They said they did not know who posted them.

“I heard the teachers were in on it,” said Jennifer Kassin, 16, of Burroughs. Other students also said some teachers had supported the walkout.

Maureen Doyle, president of the Burbank Teachers Assn., said she had not heard of any teachers encouraging students to walk out.

“Most teachers don’t know how to react to this,” said Doyle, a math teacher at Burroughs.

The screaming carloads of students going to Burbank High were seeking “to show the schools are united,” Burroughs student Ada Arreseigor, 16, said.

Like most of the students, Ada said she wanted the teachers to get a raise so that they would not strike and disrupt classes. A strike would interrupt her education, she said, as it did when she was a sixth-grader at Robert B. Stevenson Elementary School in 1980.

“All we did was go to the auditorium and watch Mickey Mouse movies,” Ada said.

Not Worried About Discipline

The students said they were not worried about disciplinary action. School Supt. Wayne Boulding said the district would consider punishing students who were “not sincere.” He said he had not decided how to distinguish those students from the others.

More than 100 of the students gathered at City Hall. Mayor Mary Lou Howard met with them for more than two hours.

“They were not out in the streets running around,” she said later. “They were very orderly. All they wanted was for somebody to listen to them.” For the most part, she said, she simply listened as the students voiced their concerns.

Not all the students agreed with those protesting. Some in a health and safety class at Burbank High watched from their classroom.

“It’s stupid. It’s not helping the teachers at all,” Katie Kunkel, 16, said. “It’s just an excuse to get out of school.”

Her teacher, Larry Auzene, agreed. He said he wanted a raise but added: “We don’t want kids running out of the classrooms.”

Officials said the next negotiating session is set for Tuesday at 5 p.m.