Put the kids first.
Not personal agendas.
Paul Gerard is running for the Burbank Board of Education to restore transparency, fiscal stability, and trust — so every decision the district makes starts with what's best for students.
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Restoring trust in our school board.
"I am running because of a smirk. In the face of a public who was angry that their funds were being stolen, the response was a smirk." — Paul Gerard, campaign kickoff speech
It is unusual to say the words "felony indictment" and "school board" in the same sentence, but here we are. Paul is running for this office because the last person to occupy it stole money from our kids — and it wasn't an isolated incident. Since then, Burbank has seen employment statuses quietly changed to benefit an individual who left office in disgrace, efforts to keep the public in the dark about closed-door decisions, and a stream of Brown Act violations.
We must put our kids first, not personal agendas. As a trustee, Paul will be an advocate for students, their parents, the staff, and every community stakeholder — listening to concerns and fighting any attempt to silence the public's voice.
What Paul will fight for on the Board.
Four commitments Paul is running on — the priorities he'll bring to every meeting, every vote, and every conversation with the community.
Transparency & the Brown Act
Restore transparency to the Board and drive its adherence to the requirements of the Brown Act — no more closed-door decisions the public is kept from seeing.
Fiscal Stability
Work with District leadership to bring fiscal stability to BUSD, aligning its finances with the goal of supporting student achievement.
Enrollment & Competitiveness
Face the challenge of declining enrollment head-on while keeping educational programs, school facilities, and staff compensation competitive with the best districts in the state.
Real Representation
Fulfill the core role of a trustee: serving as a representative of the community and an advocate for quality education for every student in our schools.
Do you live in Trustee Area 3?
In 2023, Burbank Unified moved from at-large elections to by-trustee-area elections, in line with the California Voting Rights Act. The district is now divided into five trustee areas — each Board member must live in their area and is elected only by the voters who live there.
Trustee Area 3 (shown in blue) runs roughly from the 134 freeway north to the Victory Blvd / Olive Ave corridor, between Buena Vista and the Golden State (I-5) area. It's one of two seats on the 2026 ballot, alongside Area 4. Boundaries follow census blocks, not neighborhood names, so if your address sits near an edge, confirm it with the tools below.
Fighting for fair school funding.
Diversity shouldn't be penalized.
Burbank Unified is highly diverse — culturally, linguistically, and economically — with families speaking dozens of languages at home. In most places, that diversity is a strength. But under California's LCFF funding formula, which evaluates concentrated poverty rather than cultural or linguistic diversity, Burbank's mixed student body qualifies the district for zero Concentration Grants.
That leaves BUSD facing the same expensive state mandates as heavily funded districts, without the resources those districts receive. It's a structural equity problem, not a spending problem — and Paul believes Burbank's elected officials and advocates should be pushing Sacramento to fix it.
Who's caring for Burbank's kids after school?
Private equity is quietly taking over before- and after-school care.
This fall, BUSD handed its before- and after-school program at ten elementary schools to Right At School — ending decades of Around the Bell, the district's own child-development program. On paper, it looks like a routine vendor swap. In practice, it's part of a much bigger pattern: private equity's rapid consolidation of American child care.
Around the Bell was staffed by district-credentialed teachers, run by a district Child Development Coordinator, and answerable to the school board and parents at public meetings. Right At School is a portfolio company optimizing for a 3-to-5x return on a fund timeline. Staffing levels, part-time scheduling, added fees, and renewal terms are now set by investors in a boardroom Burbank families will never see.
None of this means care quality will automatically suffer — but it does mean the decision-making has moved. And when a single PE-backed chain stumbles under the leverage used to build it, the fallout doesn't stay in one town.
Restoring real accountability to BUSD.
Managing the paper trail is not the same as telling the truth.
Burbank Unified has spent the past year absorbing one integrity shock after another: a trustee criminally charged for self-dealing, a superintendent who resigned amid accusations of facilitating the scheme, Brown Act violation allegations, and bond funds approved by voters misused to pay the fraudulent contract.
The board censured the former trustee and commissioned an outside investigation — but it hasn't apologized for the oversight failure that let all of this happen for eight months. It then voted to retroactively edit its own public meeting minutes, inserting "allegedly" next to community complaints. That's not caution. That's editing the record.
Trust researchers are clear: when a community believes a board's character is in question — not just its systems — no procedural fix lands as reassurance. It reads as evasion, because it is.
A career built on teaching and mentoring young people.
Paul and his wife moved to Burbank from West Los Angeles 17 years ago so their son could start kindergarten in a great school system. They made Burbank their home because of its schools. Their son graduated from John Burroughs High School in 2024 and now attends Pasadena City College.
Over the past 20 years, Paul has served as a professor in the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC, where he created the program's first graduate-level animation development course — a full curriculum that walks students through every stage of bringing a project to life. Many of his former students now hold positions at Pixar, Sony, Disney, DreamWorks, Amazon, Illumination, and Warner Bros.
Outside the classroom, Paul spent his career making stories for children and families as an executive at The Walt Disney Company, Hasbro, and Warner Bros. — including a decade at DisneyToon Studios and, most recently, as Senior Vice President of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. Whether in the classroom or the studio, his focus has always been the same: teaching, mentoring, and creating work that helps young people learn, imagine, and grow.
Press & announcements.
Paul Gerard Files for Burbank Board of Education — District 3
Paul Gerard has officially filed as a candidate for the Burbank Board of Education, District 3 seat, and is now campaigning to earn the support of voters in the district. Although he is running to represent District 3, Gerard says he is committed to serving the interests of the entire Burbank Unified School District if elected. His campaign centers on restoring sound governance and fiscal stability to BUSD.
"As a trustee of the Burbank Board of Education, I will work to ensure that there are strategic plans that support student achievement by keeping the education of Burbank's youth as the top priority of the district."
Gerard is a professor of animation for the Peter Stark Program at the University of Southern California. He was an executive at The Walt Disney Co., Hasbro, and Warner Bros.
Meeting Burbank, one living room at a time.
Photos from campaign house parties and meet-and-greets across the district.
Burbank's schools deserve better. Help build it.
Whether it's hosting a coffee, putting a sign on your lawn, or just spreading the word to other Burbank parents — every bit of help moves this campaign forward.
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