Former athletic director in training for school board seat

Molly Shore

Retired Burbank coach and athletic director Dave Kemp, one of 15

candidate seeking a school board seat, thinks the current board has

made some mistakes.

“I know their heart was in the right place,” he said. “I think

they are hard-working, very honest people, but for some reason or

another, they must have missed some things.”

Kemp is critical of the way board members handled the budget

deficit. He also thinks the firing of former Supt. David Aponik could

have been handled better.

If he is successful in winning one of the three seats, Kemp said

he will work to ensure teachers and parents receive accurate

information from the board.

“We need to involve parents and community members,” Kemp said.

“We have great human resources in this community, but sometimes I

think they’re under-utilized.”

Kemp’s 34 years as an educator, his many years on the Burbank

Teachers Assn. negotiations team, and his presence on the committee

that developed school-site councils in the mid-1990s qualify him to

hold the office, he said.

“If we don’t do what is best for the students, we aren’t doing our

job. That’s from the top down,” Kemp said.

Kemp said it is the district’s responsibility to educate every

student who comes out of Burbank schools to be prepared to contribute

to the society to their maximum potential.