Dr. Armond Aghakhanian Announces Re-Election Bid for Burbank School Board
BURBANK—The current Vice President and longtime Burbank Unified School District Board member, Dr. Armond Aghakhanian, announced his candidacy for re-election to the Burbank Unified School District Board of Education Area 5. He is a Burbank resident, parent, and teacher, bringing over 25 years of experience in education, business, and public service.
First elected in 2015, Dr. Aghakhanian’s focus has been on providing safe, healthy, and equitable educational opportunities for every student, teacher, staff member, and parent in our public schools. A longtime community activist, teacher, and advocate for education during the past nine years, Dr. Aghakhanian has been instrumental in passing the first Armenian Genocide Resolution commemorating April 24th as the day of remembrance at the Burbank School District and adoption of Resolution 14, with the Board and the district standing in Solidarity with the People of Armenia and Artsakh to Condemn Azerbaijan and Turkey’s Aggression during the 2020 conflict to name a few.
Dr. Aghakhanian is the former President of the Armenian American Chamber of Commerce, a former Board member of the Armenian Relief Center, a former member of the Armenian Bone Marrow Donor Registry Advisory Board, a former California State University Northridge’s Armenian Student Association Executive Board member, co-founder of the USANOUGH periodical of the Armenian Students News Media and longtime member of the Homenetmen Burbank “Sipan” Chapter where his son, Arameh, is a scout.
During his nine years on the school board, Dr. Aghakhanian has focused on ensuring safe, wholesome, and equitable educational opportunities for every student, teacher, staff member, and parent in our public schools. His contributions, including addressing crucial issues such as mental health, technical education, higher education, equity, diversity, and inclusion, have had a profound impact on our district. He played a pivotal role in co-founding the BUSD Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee and the Sustainability Committee. Looking to the future, he is dedicated to finalizing the establishment of the first joint Center for Business, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Incubator, a partnership he started between the Burbank School District and the City of Burbank.
“I am deeply honored by the endorsement of many community leaders, teachers, school employees, elected officials, and organizations, reaffirming my dedication to education. I believe that our schools are the foundation of our community, and I have spent my life working towards this belief, but these are challenging times for our district. We’re facing state budget cuts, enrollment attrition, and increasing infrastructure costs. Now, more than ever, we need to unite to navigate our challenges and build a better future for our district. Now, more than ever, we need leadership with experience,” said Dr. Aghakhanian.
Dr. Aghakhanian’s priorities are academic excellence, fiscal responsibility and funding, school safety, environmental sustainability, increasing mental health resources, adding additional career technical courses, supporting dual enrollment, and infrastructure improvements.
He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from California State University Northridge, a master’s degree in business administration from Woodbury University, and a Doctorate from Pepperdine University.
Dr. Aghakhanian lives in Burbank with his wife, Gayane, a pharmacist, and their son, Arameh, a seventh grader at John Muir Middle School.
