Schools to Sift Pupil’s Claim of Residency

A Superior Court judge on Tuesday said Burbank Unified School District officials must consider evidence that the son of a Board of Education candidate lives in the city and is eligible to attend city schools.

Judge Thomas C. Murphy told David Romley, attorney for candidate S. Michael Stavropoulos, to produce the evidence in court Thursday. The judge’s decision came as he was about to hear testimony in Stavropoulos’ lawsuit against the district.

Stavropoulos sued after the school board concluded at an Oct. 5 hearing that he did not live within district boundaries and could not send his 14-year-old son to John Muir Junior High School.

Romley told Murphy that Burbank resident Brian Brogan sold a house to Stavropoulos in September. Brogan’s testimony was not considered by the board because he was not notified of the hearing, Romley said. The attorney said he will bring a letter from Brogan to court Thursday for district officials to examine.

If the officials agree that Brogan’s statements prove that Stavropoulos lives in Burbank, the boy will be allowed to remain at Muir, said Timothy Crowner, district director of child welfare and attendance. The teen-ager is attending classes there under court order pending the outcome of the conflict.

If Crowner does not feel the evidence reverses the board’s findings, there will be another board hearing where Brogan’s statements will be considered, Crowner said.

The youth attended Muir during the 1987-1988 school year, officials said. In May, he was involved in an altercation with another student after which he told authorities that he lived at a Los Angeles address, district officials said.

He was allowed to finish the school year but was denied permission to re-enroll in September because district officials said he did not live in Burbank.

The boy’s father protested, insisting that he was leasing a house in the 600 block of East Walnut Avenue that he intended to purchase. But two district investigators said they found Brogan’s belongings--including photographs of his children--in the house when they visited.

The investigators said they asked to see young Stavropoulos’ room, but Stavropoulos and Brogan said a “vicious dog” was locked in the room and the door could not be opened.

Stavropoulos, a neurosurgeon, said he was in the process of moving into the house, where he said he now lives, when the district officials visited.

Stavropoulos, who is seeking unspecified damages in the suit, would not comment on where he was living when his son attended Muir during the 1987-88 academic year.

Stavropoulos filed notice of his candidacy Thursday, the deadline to announce for board seats. One of four school board candidates competing for two seats, Stavropoulos said: “I feel it’s an obligation for me to get involved on the board to make sure that mistakes like this don’t happen again.”