BURBANK : School Board Picks Aponik for Top Post

The Burbank school board has named David Aponik superintendent of schools.

Aponik, deputy superintendent since March, will head the school system of more than 13,000 students starting July 12.

“The top priorities are rebuilding Burbank’s schools, maintaining a balanced budget in difficult financial times and the restructuring of our educational programs,” he said Tuesday.

Aponik replaces Arthur Pierce, who has resigned effective this month after a somewhat stormy seven-year tenure. The school board voted last week to promote Aponik.

A 13-year veteran of the Burbank schools, Aponik was the only candidate that the school board seriously considered for the $93,500-a-year position, board member Elena Hubbell said.

“We have a lot of confidence in Dave Aponik,” she said. “We’ve seen him really rise to the occasion many times when the superintendent was out of town.”

The Michigan-born deputy superintendent, 41, has been in charge of personnel matters, health services, and labor relations and negotiations.

He began his career in Burbank’s public schools as a psychologist in 1981 and gradually moved his way into management ranks.

Aponik studied psychology throughout his college years and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from UCLA in 1970, a master’s degree from Cal State Northridge in 1976 and a Ph.D from USC in 1980.