BURBANK : $23 Million OKd to Update City Schools

A unanimous Burbank City Council has agreed to spend $23 million to refurbish, rebuild and make emergency repairs to the city’s deteriorating public schools.

The council’s gift, which came on a 5-0 vote Tuesday night, is believed to be the largest one-time cash infusion that the Burbank Unified School District has ever received.

For the district’s 13,283 students, the money will mean that bathrooms at all three of Burbank’s middle schools and some elementary schools can be modernized, and architectural work to rebuild Burbank and John Burroughs high schools can begin.

“This is a major step in our efforts to rebuild and modernize our public schools,” said Ali Kiafar, the district’s assistant superintendent of planning, development and facilities. “We had worked on this for almost a year and we were pretty confident the City Council would approve it.”

The district, Kiafar added, has already been authorized to spend a small portion of the money and will be able to use the rest as soon as school and city officials sign a written agreement.

School officials expect to spend $5.8 million on architectural planning for the two aging high schools, $8.6 million to modernize Washington and Emerson elementary schools and Jordan Middle School, and $1.9 million on various projects to relieve overcrowding.

Another $6 million will be spent to improve students’ health and safety at virtually every school in the district, replacing drinking fountains, electrical outlets, doors and light fixtures, among other things.