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.
Paul didn't start paying attention to BUSD when he filed his papers. He's been watching, attending, and speaking up for years.
Paul has followed Burbank Unified board meetings closely — tracking how the board handles public comment, votes on budget items, and responds to outside oversight. He understands how the board operates, how its meetings are run, and where it has consistently fallen short.
Paul has studied BUSD's annual financial reports, multi-year projections, and both FCMAT reviews line by line. He can read a school district budget — and he knows what "Lack of Going Concern" actually means for the families of Burbank.
Since filing, Paul has held house parties and meet-and-greets across Trustee Area 3 — talking to parents, teachers, and neighbors who deserve to know what the school board's responsibilities are and how its decisions affect every resident, whether or not they have children in our schools.
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. 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.
BUSD is a $300 million public institution. Managing it responsibly — especially through a fiscal crisis — requires a trustee who understands how large organizations budget, where money gets misallocated, and what it takes to get back on track.
Paul spent decades overseeing multi-million dollar production budgets and creative development slates at major entertainment companies. As Senior Vice President of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, he managed development budgets for some of the studio's largest theatrical properties. At DisneyToon Studios, he oversaw the creative and financial development of a catalog of productions over a decade-long tenure. At Hasbro/Allspark Animation, he built and led the feature animation division from the ground up.
These weren't just creative roles — they required managing contracts, vendor relationships, multi-year financial projections, and accountability to boards and senior leadership. That experience translates directly to the work of a school board trustee.
A "Lack of Going Concern" designation is not a routine budget warning. It is an accounting term applied when independent auditors determine that a district's financial condition raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue operating. BUSD received this designation first in January 2026 — and the county renewed it in July, citing continued deficit-spending projections and weak internal controls.
On California's fiscal distress scale, this is Level 5 out of 8 — one step below a formal fiscal emergency and state cash insolvency. Left unaddressed, the path leads to one outcome: state takeover, and the permanent loss of local control over Burbank's schools.
The board has known about these conditions. Outside fiscal experts (FCMAT) identified the core problems over two consecutive annual reviews. The same unaddressed weaknesses — internal controls, multi-year budget projections, spending transparency — appeared in both reports. That pattern is not an accident. It's a governance failure, and it's exactly why Paul is running.
Four commitments Paul is running on — the priorities he'll bring to every meeting, every vote, and every conversation with the community.
Work with District leadership to address the "Lack of Going Concern" designation head-on — restructuring BUSD's finances, strengthening internal controls, and restoring the multi-year budget discipline needed to keep Burbank's schools under local control. State takeover is not an acceptable outcome.
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, and no more retroactive edits to public meeting records.
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.
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 — not a defender of the institution at the expense of the public.
FCMAT — the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team, California's independent fiscal watchdog — reviewed Burbank Unified's finances and operations in 2024 and again in 2025. The reports were separated by a full year. The findings were not.
Both reports identified the same core weaknesses: inadequate internal financial controls, multi-year budget projections that didn't hold up under scrutiny, and a governance culture that treated compliance as a paperwork exercise rather than a real obligation. The second report wasn't discovering new problems. It was documenting the same problems the first report had already flagged — and that the board had had a full year to fix.
That pattern — outside experts identifying a crisis, the board acknowledging it, and the underlying problems persisting — is not a management failure. It's a governance failure. It means the people responsible for directing the district's response weren't directing anything. They were waiting it out.
Meanwhile, BUSD was also absorbing the consequences of a board member who used her office to steer public funds to her own family, and a superintendent who reportedly knew. The district censured her. It issued formal statements. And then it voted, months later, to retroactively edit the public record of community complaints about what trustees knew and when.
I'm not running because the problems are unfixable. I'm running because a board that has spent two years managing its image rather than managing its crisis has forfeited the public's trust, and trust is what makes a school board work.
"Two FCMAT reports. Two years. The same internal control failures flagged each time. At some point, that stops being a management problem and starts being a choice." — Paul Gerard
FCMAT's initial assessment of BUSD identified significant weaknesses in internal financial controls and multi-year budget projections. The board received the findings. A remediation plan was outlined.
A year later, FCMAT returned. The same structural problems remained. The district had not meaningfully addressed the core findings from the prior year's review.
LACOE formally designates BUSD a "Lack of Going Concern" district. The designation is renewed again in July 2026 — confirming the underlying conditions have not been resolved.
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.
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Email the Campaign“Paul Gerard is the best school board candidate for District 3 because he is the only one who brings a collaborative vision to ensure our District moves forward in a financially stable and ethical way so that our focus remains on students and programs first.”Diana Abasta Former President, Burbank Teachers Association
Interested in endorsing Paul? Get in touch.
"I am proud to announce that I just received the endorsement of the Armenian National Committee of Burbank!"
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the grassroots advocacy organization representing the views and values – the rights, interests, and aspirations – of Armenian and allied Americans from all fifty states. Working in close coordination with a national network of regional offices, local chapters, and grassroots supporters – alongside our coalition partners and international counterparts – the ANCA continues its century-long service to the cause of Armenian liberty and policy priorities of special concern to Americans of Armenian heritage.
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.
Photos from campaign events, canvassing sessions, and meet-and-greets across the district.
