‘Wonder Years’ Expelled From School : Education: Burbank district says filming of TV show disrupts Burroughs High. Producers plan to find other campuses.

There’s no business like show business--but show business has no business at Burbank schools.

Despite pleas and letters to the Burbank Unified School District board from producers, district officials have pulled the plug on filming for the Emmy award-winning “The Wonder Years” at Burroughs High School and other district campuses.

The series, which revolves around the suburban adolescent memories of Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage), filmed many of its atmospheric shots around the Burroughs campus over the past three years. Much of the shooting was done during school hours, causing students to maneuver around cables, cameras and crews.

But the district’s decision to bar filming has left producers wondering about what happened during those years.

“I thought we had been a very good neighbor,” said the show’s supervising producer, Ken Topolsky. “Why we were able to do this for a couple of years and now we can’t do it any more is annoying. It’s the inconsistency that bothers us.”

Even the school’s principal, Timothy Buchanan, is a little mystified by the ban. He said he had a good relationship with the show’s producers and enjoyed seeing the school on television.

“The producers liked the whole look of the school,” he said. “It added a feature to the school that was a plus.”

It’s not that district administrators hate the show. In fact, some say they are big fans. And it’s not that the financially troubled district can’t use the money the production pays in rental and location fees. The total collected is just $30,000, but for a district that needs $110 million to put its deteriorating buildings into shape, every little bit helps, officials admitted.

It came down to a conflict of class time versus prime time.

Richard Tighe, assistant superintendent of business services, said the show cannot go on during school hours. “We have a firm policy that filming cannot interfere with our school programs,” he said. “All those trucks and filming cause an obvious disruption. Yes, we need the money, but we’re in the business of educating children first.”

Tighe said that although Buchanan had approved shooting at the school, “it was not cleared by the district office. It was not authorized.”

Teachers and parents complained to administrators about the filming, he added.

Topolsky denied that filming had caused disturbances.

“We would go out of our way not to cause interruptions,” he said. “If there was a football field that was not being used, or the locker room, or the cafeteria, that’s where we’d go.”

But Topolsky said he will not bring his cameras where they are not wanted, explaining, “I’m sure there are other school districts who will welcome the revenue.” He plans to use schools in Culver City and Van Nuys.

Some Burroughs students said they aren’t exactly turned off by the lack of “Wonder.”

Members of the school’s pep squad said production members would make fun of them during cheers. Their practices had to be relocated because of filming. They also complained about trash that they said the production crew left behind.

“It was kind of neat to have them here, but they were also kind of in the way,” said 10th-grader Amber Hansen, 14.

“Sure, our school needs the money, but they would interrupt us,” said 10th-grader Kim Spencer. “I don’t even watch the show that much.”