Q. Our PTA was recently asked to provide a lot of funding for our disaster bin. The district office informed our principal at our site that PTA can help. However, our site needs 1000’s of dollars to replace everything that has expired or that they need for our school over the past few years. We can’t afford that in our budget. Shouldn’t the district be keeping disaster bins up to “code”? What if there is a disaster?
A. BUSD is purchasing replacement backpacks for school sites this year. Replacement of inventory in the disaster bins is a site expense. Typically schools work with the PTSA to replace expired items or use site funds. Please reach out to stacycashman@burbankusd.org with specific questions.
Q. The DARE people have been out in front of the supermarkets again asking for donations. They told me they were doing programs in Burbank schools, but couldn’t name a specific school they were at. (sorry, I’m super suspicious). Are they in our schools?
A. No, DARE is not a current program with Burbank Police Department or the schools.
Q. There have been a lot of administrators leaving recently. What is your plan for retention going forward?
A. As we are seeing in most industries, there is a lot of turnover right now. This is allowing individuals to pursue new personal and professional opportunities. We will continue to look at ways to support our existing and new administrators professionally and financially so that we can retain them within BUSD when possible.
Q. Who is in charge of cleaning up the stand areas between football games (specifically the trash)? We heard its not JBHS but district since Memorial Field is district property not JBHS property. Who should be calling to make sure there is janitorial staff for the game, and who should they call?
A. The district is responsible for cleaning the stadium if you notice any concerns you may contact the Director of Facilities, Larry Cross at 818-729-5502.
Q. What is going on with renovations for Burbank High Pool? Is there anything that we can do as parents (maybe a fundraiser or donations)? We have amazing Water polo Teams, and it’s a shame that they can’t have practices or games in their own school with their school friends cheering them on.
A. Designs are currently being developed for the pool repairs. They will then be submitted to the Division of the State Architect for approval. Updates will be posted here. https://www.burbankusd.org/domain/1676
Q. My daughter’s teacher missed quite a few classes last semester because he was coaching a sport. It seems like the first priority should be the academic class not the sport. Is there policy around this? How many classes is the teacher allowed to miss? Students get a truancy letter if they miss too many.
A. In this example, the teacher is hired to be a teacher and a coach. In the event that travel requires a teacher to be away for a class because of a league game, they are allowed to miss the class. They are expected to have a lesson plan and a substitute teacher. There is no policy that stipulates how many days a teacher can miss a class due to coaching responsibilities.
Q. What is the policy around high school coaches who also coach club teams in the same sport? It seems unfair when the entire club team makes the high school team leaving only one or two spots, if any, for those who aren’t on that coach’s club team.
A. There are protocols for high school athletic try-outs to ensure the process is fair and equitable. Students on the club team should not be given preferential treatment strictly by virtue of their participation in a club sport. If you feel there is a discrepancy in the try-out process please work with the principal and the assistant principal of athletics to address the concern.
Q. Now that all of the elementary schools have instruments, will the students be able to read 6 notes on musical staffs by the end of the year?
A. The elementary music classes provide students with instruction in the foundational skills that support successful music instruction in our middle school programs. The goal of introducing an instrument (like the ukulele) is to reinforce general music skills while beginning skills instruction in musicianship. While basic note recognition and reading are a part of the elementary program, the goal is to provide students with basic foundational instruction that supports continued growth in secondary programs.
Q. My son tested into the most advanced math in 6th grade. At that age, he has no idea what he wants to study in college and if he will need calculus. But the math sequence in BUSD will lead into calculus. Have you considered adding other math options for juniors and seniors? Right now I think AP Stats is the only option.
A. Yes, we are planning to add options in the near future. One of the courses that is in the draft of the new Mathematics Framework is Data Science. The math teachers at both high schools are interested in developing this course for district students. It meets the need of having another viable option for students who are not on track for calculus. In addition, it prepares the students for real-world mathematics applications in the job.
1Q. Would it be possible to create a high school math class that incorporated practical skills such as balancing a bank account, understanding interest rates, etc and still achieved the state mandated standards?
A. Teachers are also interested in a personal finance course. However, we are waiting on the state to take the lead. California Department of Education (CDE) has indicated that they would like to make a personal finance course a graduation requirement and will be discussing it this fall. But there is definitely serious consideration to adding the course at both the state and local levels.
Q. Is there any oversight of the curriculum that is taught in the AP classes to assure that the students are being prepped for the test? Last year my son’s teacher didn’t even know what format the test was in and thought the whole thing was multiple choice.
A. There is oversight on multiple levels. The initial guidance is from the College Board which sets the curriculum and materials for each course. They also offer training opportunities in each of the subjects. The second level is from the school administrators. If you have already discussed your concerns with the teacher and are not satisfied with the response, reach out to the Assistant Principal of Instruction.
Q. For the School satisfaction survey, there were 2740 responses. But that is divided between students, parents, and staff. Can you share how that 2740 was divided between those three groups?
A. Parents: 1,500; Students 786; Staff 262; and Community 42. https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/1545715/School_Satisfaction_Spring_2022_091522.pdf
Q. I know at the beginning of the school year teachers give tests to see where the students are academically and what they need to learn in order to meet the state standards by the end of the year. If a student has already met the state standards, too often the response from the teacher is “This student is fine.” Does a student need to skip a grade level to get more rigorous coursework? What is the process to do that? If you don’t want your child to skip a grade, is the district providing any training or guidance for teachers as to how to address the needs of these students?
A. Teachers receive professional development in differentiation for all students. In addition, there is training available for specific populations of students such as Gifted and Talented students and Special Education students. The district also maintains a library of past professional development offerings for teachers to access. In the scenario provided, the parent should request a meeting with the teacher to discuss how the needs of the student who has met the standards are being met in the classroom. If the parent is not satisfied with the response, then they should reach out to the school principal. As far as skipping a grade, Board policy 5123 describes that process.
Q. Which schools have gardens?
A. Emerson has a small garden patch. Stevenson and Washington have larger garden areas. Luther and Monterey are looking to operate their garden again. If you would like to start and maintain a garden at your school, please contact your principal.
Q. When are the District’s goals reviewed to see if they were met? When is the report published each year for parents to see?
A. We encourage everyone to participate in the Local Accountability Plan (LCAP) process this is where we review our goals and set priorities. https://www.burbankusd.org/lcap
Q. The children seem to have difficulty using their numbers to access nutrition and lunch, especially those in the younger grades. Some forget their numbers, some are just very slow in putting numbers into the keypad. This often causes a delay and very long, slow moving lines. This often leaves less time for them to enjoy their food before the bell rings. Is there any way to change to a bar code system/scanning each child’s ID vs having to have them input manually?
A. Our current Point-of-Sale system doesn’t support multiple keypads or scanners. However, we are converting to a new Point-of-Sale & Nutrition System in January 2023. The new system will allow 2-4 keypads and/or keypads/scanners to be used at the same time, which will increase the speed of the lines at all school sites.
Q. I received a letter from my childs school requesting a donation from all families. How does the school district oversee the spending of the funds? The letter was unclear as to what the money would be used for and some of the suggested amounts were quite high.
A. When donations are requested from the school site they are targeted for a specific purpose. The money is placed in a site fund which is monitored by the district finance office. All expenditures are monitored through the district finance team. If there is a situation where donations are being asked for “general” purposes please contact Dr. Paramo who will look into the matter with the school site.
Q. BHS Drama would like to take credit cards and Apple Pay for concessions during performances. Contacting district personnel, it appears the drama program, as an ASB member, is limited to using ASB Works that allows for online payments where you could charge for tickets in the student store and you could sell concessions that would all tie to your drama accounts and ledger. Then there is a list you can print out from the student store of those parents who electronically paid, and when a parent goes to get their ticket or concession, they would just show proof of online payment from their phone, you mark them off your sheet and they get their ticket or soda or what have you. However, this just isn’t a good work around. We are having to turn down performance night concession sales, merchandise sales, and even donations because we don’t have access to credit card transactions. What can be done?
A. The Director of Finance has reached out to ASB Works to see what solutions they have, and they do have a POS system to take electronic payments. Details have been sent to each Middle School and High School finance clerk so they can make an appointment with ASB Works to see how it works and implementation.
Q. Now that the district has reversed itself and said that no elementary school will have OSS due to DEI concerns, will the district’s fundraising committees refund to parents all the donations made to fund OSS? To not do so would mean that the district has been unjustly enriched — the district knew that the fundraising committees would start the school year with dedicated fundraisers to fund OSS and thousands of dollars would come in for OSS. What is the district going to do with all of this money? How can the district keep all this money raised exclusively to fund OSS?
A. The Board has updated its Overnight Trip policy – students no longer need to be vaccinated. The District is in the process of confirming OSS sites for each school. More information will be forthcoming.