Schools Tighten Security After Teachers’ Protests : Burbank: The Board of Education will spend $100,000 for emergency phones and alarms. A student who attacked a teacher pleads guilty to battery.

Responding to complaints from teachers about increased violence on school campuses, the Burbank Board of Education voted Thursday night to spend more than $100,000 for emergency communication systems at the city’s two high schools and one of its elementary schools.

The board voted unanimously to install nine emergency telephones at Burbank and John Burroughs high schools and one at Bret Harte Elementary School.

Teachers at Burroughs also will be given wireless beepers, which when activated will trigger an alarm in the school’s administrative office, said Richard Tighe, assistant superintendent of business.

The board’s action came on the same day that a Burroughs student pleaded guilty in Pasadena Juvenile Court to charges of assaulting a teacher at the school. The incident sparked a one-day strike by Burroughs teachers to protest the board’s decision not to expel the student.

The board has refused to comment on the assault.

The 16-year-old student pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of battery, said Deputy Dist. Atty. John Schlueter. In exchange for the guilty plea, the prosecution agreed to drop a second misdemeanor battery charge and a felony count of threatening a public official, Schlueter said.

The student was ordered to appear Jan. 17 for sentencing. He could receive probation or a maximum sentence of one year in a California Youth Authority facility, Schlueter said.

The student and his attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Since the incident at Burroughs, the school board has sought to improve security on campuses, where the number of attacks on students and teachers has increased sharply over the last few years.

Earlier this month, the board approved plans to hire one additional security aide for each of Burbank’s two high schools.