BURBANK : Permit Canceled for Outreach Center

At the urging of parents, the Burbank School Board has canceled the permit for a community outreach center at the McKinley Elementary School.

“I think a lot of people in Burbank feel their trust has been violated,” board member Denise Lioy Wilcox said during Thursday’s meeting, which was attended by more than 130 people--some of whom watched by closed-circuit television.

Many attacked the Valley Community Clinic in North Hollywood, which became controversial after its plans to open a clinic offering gynecological exams, birth control and sex education were disclosed. The clinic pulled out three weeks ago because of strong public opposition.

“We sometimes trip and make mistakes and then we go back,” said Marita Garrahan, director of the Burbank Corp. for Youth, which had invited the clinic to join its center.

Garrahan said the clinic would not return, and the school board invited her group to reapply for a permit, but only with a full accounting of its activities.

The board also decided to rewrite policy on use of school facilities by outside groups. District officials said that the original McKinley permit had been granted as a routine matter by the Assistant Supt. for Business Services Richard Tighe.

“One person was able to issue this permit,” City Councilwoman Susan Spanos said. “I don’t think any person in government, elected or not, should have that kind of power.”

Speakers at the meeting represented a broad spectrum of opinion, some against any birth control for teen-agers, some opposed the use of an elementary school for that purpose, and a minority who supported the clinic.

“I kind of have the feeling we were sandbagged,” said Raul Alcocer, a member of the Burbank Corp. for Youth. He said many of those who had asked for a clinic did not defend it.

Audrey Hanson, chairwoman of the Burbank Corp. for Youth’s board of directors, said she was at least glad to see an open debate about birth control and teen-age sex in the community. “I think it’s a positive thing that has happened, we’ve got it out in the open,” she said.