Schools get new looks
Molly Shore
While students are enjoying their summer break, there is still plenty
of activity on Burbank Unified School District campuses while
construction and modernization work continues.
Summer is the best time to complete the work, because some
construction can adversely affect educational programs, said Ali
Kiafar, chief facilities and development superintendent for the
district.
When the school year begins in September, John Muir Middle School
students will file into refurbished classrooms and eat lunch in a
modernized cafeteria.
“Muir really needed modernization,” Kiafar said. “The work was not
piecemeal or merely cosmetic. They are really major upgrades and
replacement, as well as modernization.”
In a completed wing, air conditioning is in all classrooms, new
light fixtures have been installed, new flooring has been put in and
the rooms have been upgraded for computer access, he said.
Muir’s construction is costing $13 million, and was financed by
local and state bonds, Kiafar said.
At John Burroughs High School, Phase II construction includes a
total rehabilitation of the school’s main building fronting Clark
Avenue, as well as modernization of the Brian W. Hurst Gymnasium.
Kiafar said the old 300 Hall will soon be demolished to make room
for construction of the school’s new quad. Upgrades on the auditorium
and Industrial Arts building will soon begin, he said.
At Burbank High School, construction is underway on a new
gymnasium and swimming pool, and work is expected to begin soon on
the school’s auditorium and new parking structure, Kiafar said.
Concrete playgrounds at Jefferson and McKinley elementary schools
will be replaced with grass. PTA Council President Sonia Arce, whose
child attends Jefferson, is enthusiastic about the project.
“I think it’s wonderful,” Arce said. “Having a greenbelt promotes
more oxygen.”
Students at Washington, McKinley, Providencia and Disney
elementary schools are getting new playground equipment, which is
being paid for with a $240,000 Community Development block grant from
the city.