Burbank Schools Put Off Hearing on Where Board Candidate Lives

The attorney for a Burbank school board candidate accused of maintaining a phony residence in the city vowed Friday to take legal action against the board for postponing a hearing.

David E. Romley said the board had been ordered by Burbank Superior Court Judge Thomas C. Murphy on Jan. 13 to hold a special meeting Thursday to consider the case of S. Michael Stavropoulos.

Instead, the board postponed the hearing to Feb. 15, two weeks before Burbank’s municipal election, Romley said.

“They’re just trying to frustrate Dr. Stavropoulos’ chances for political reasons,” said Romley, adding that he will file a motion accusing the board of contempt of the court order.

1 of 2 Board Seats

District officials said the rescheduling had nothing to do with the upcoming election. Stavropoulos is running for one of two open seats on the school board.

John Wagner, attorney for the district, said the meeting was canceled when Stavropoulos missed the deadline for filing a written request with the board to hear the case.

Wagner said Stavropoulos was told during the Jan. 13 hearing that he had five days to formally file the request if he wanted the matter to be heard Thursday. Stavropoulos was notified at the hearing that a second district investigation had determined that he does not live in Burbank.

Although Stavropoulos insists that he has been living in the 600 block of East Walnut Avenue since September, district investigators said, he listed a Los Angeles address on tax documents recently filed with the county. They added that residents of the East Walnut Avenue neighborhood told them that Stavropoulos does not live there.

Wagner and other school district officials earlier this week asked Murphy to lift a court order that permits Stavropoulos’ son to attend John Muir Junior High School while the case is pending. But the judge told the delegation that the school board must still hear the case before the boy can be removed from the school, Wagner said.

District Supt. Arthur Pierce said that the new hearing date has nothing to do with the school board election.

‘Not a Factor’

“That is not a factor at all,” Pierce said. “Each side has to have time to gather their respective evidence and witnesses. That was the first night we had available.”

The board first concluded in October that Stavropoulos, a neurosurgeon whose practice is in Hollywood, had been lying about his address and cannot send his son to Muir. Stavropoulos sued the district.

Stavropoulos’ son attended Muir during the 1987-1988 school year. Last May, when he was involved in an altercation with another student, the boy told authorities he lived in Los Angeles, district officials said.

He was allowed to finish the school year but was told in the fall that he was not eligible to re-enroll because he does not live in Burbank.