Giligia Charter Academy Misses Deadline To Disclose Location

GILIGIA CHARTER ACADEMY MISSES DEADLINE TO DISCLOSE LOCATION

Burbank Leader (Glendale, California)
July 9, 2014 Wednesday

by Kelly Corrigan, Burbank Leader, Glendale, Calif.

July 09–Burbank school officials said they had not yet received
an address where Giligia Charter Academy would operate, though that
information was due Monday.

The charter’s lead petitioner, Julia Yeranossian-Aghishian, declined to
disclose the school’s address Tuesday, saying the proposed location
would not be released until negotiations with the landlord were
complete.

The lack of an address could potentially affect the school’s success
in being approved on July 17 when the board will vote on giving the
charter final approval.

“There was a deadline yesterday that was ostensibly not met,” said
school board member Larry Applebaum. “The other requirements I believe
have been.”

Even so, he added, “I’m not confident that we have all the facts to
adequately be able to substantiate any action at the next meeting. My
supposition is we could deny [the petition] because they failed to
meet their deadlines.”

If the charter is denied, he said it could return as a proposal at
a later date.

“[It’s] not the end of the conversation,” Applebaum said, and school
board President Roberta Reynolds concurred.

The proposed school ignited residents’ concerns in recent weeks
following the board’s tentative approval of the charter last month.

During the June 5 meeting, charter officials said the school would
be located on Burbank Boulevard near Hollywood Way. Residents of the
area soon approached city and school officials with concerns over
the location.

But Yeranossian-Aghishian said the site fell through after the
landlord expressed a desire to maintain the vacant building as a
production studio. In late June, she said she was eyeing a location
in a business district and not a residential one.

Aside from the school’s location, residents have voiced concerns that
the school would cater too much to one demographic, placing a heavy
focus on Armenian students while also setting a new precedent for
charter schools to operate in Burbank.

The petitioners have said the school would target immigrants new
to Burbank and surrounding areas. According to the petition, the
school would teach most of its curriculum in English with Armenian
and Spanish offered as foreign language classes.

The petition also states the school would open to 120 students this
September.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress