Asbestos Removal Cited : Burbank District Delays Restructuring of Schools

The Burbank school board has voted to postpone for a year a plan to establish two four-year high schools and scale back elementary schools to kindergarten through fifth grades.

The board decided to delay the restructuring, which had been scheduled to begin in September, because remodeling of the district’s two high schools, Burbank and Burroughs, is not scheduled to be completed until February, 1990.

Asbestos was discovered in walls and insulation at the schools late last year, district officials said. And removing it will cause the remodeling to take longer than planned, officials said. The asbestos removal will begin this summer, they said.

Adding Ninth-Graders

The district is remodeling both schools to accommodate ninth- graders.

Supt. Arthur Pierce said the asbestos does not pose a danger to students or teachers at the schools, but it could be a health hazard if it were removed while students are in the buildings.

“Parents might be concerned if this asbestos dust were around, so we are taking the cautious approach,” Pierce said.

Although board members expressed disappointment with the delay, they agreed that it was necessary and insisted that the reconfiguration be put in place for the 1990-91 school year.

“My disappointment is tempered by the realization that we must do what is best for our students,” board President Audrey Hanson said.

Parents will be officially notified in a letter that will be sent out soon, Pierce said.

Parents Not Upset

Jean Andrus, president of the district’s PTA Council, a coalition of parent-teacher associations, said parents are not upset by the delay.

Under the reconfiguration, the district’s three junior high schools--Jordan, Muir and Burbank--will be turned into middle schools for sixth- to eighth-grade students.

The district’s about 900 ninth- graders will attend either Burbank or Burroughs high schools when the plan is in place.

The restructuring and remodeling will cost about $2 million, officials said. Although an exact figure for the asbestos removal has not been determined, officials said, it may cost about $375,000.

The plan was proposed three years ago when the district’s enrollment was dropping. The student population at district schools has stabilized, officials said.