BURBANK : Board Supports School Bond Issue

The Burbank Unified School District favors a ballot measure that would make it easier to win bond issues but is against giving students vouchers to attend private schools.

The board vote was unanimous on each issue Thursday night. Although the positions were not surprising, the stand on Proposition 170 is a critical one for the district, which is searching for ways to fund about $100 million in renovations to school buildings.

That proposition would make it possible for a school district to win a bond issue for construction by a simple majority of voters, rather than by the two-thirds vote now required.

Board Vice President William S. Abbey, however, publicly wrestled with his vote on the school bond issue.

“I do have a philosophical concern that a growing segment of the public who rent rather than own would be able to saddle property owners with the responsibility to repay the bonds,” Abbey said. However, he supported the measure because of the district’s need for construction.

“If we don’t have the ability to move ahead and add extra classrooms, we’re not going to be prepared,” Board President Elena Hubbell said.

The votes followed a brief public hearing on Proposition 174, which would give students vouchers that could be used to attend private schools.

No hearing was held on Proposition 170. A couple members of the public asked that the board delay its vote on the issue until a hearing could be held. However, district officials said that requests from the public to make an addition to the board agenda have to be made in writing.