Burgard Vocational High School is a vocational high school located in Buffalo, New York, USA. It holds about 800 students from Grades 9 - 12 and teaches according to the Board of Regents. The current Principal is Mrs. Charlene Watson, and the current Assistant Principals are Mr. Eric Johnson, Ms. Jamie St. John, and Ms. Tracey J. Travis.
The school was founded in 1910 as a combined printing class between Public School #5 and Public School #44 on Elm Street in Buffalo. In 1914, it became known as the Elm Technical School. A $1,000,000 construction project was begun to construct a new facility for the school, with the land being donated by Henry P. Burgard.
In 2009, a renovation was completed on the school that expanded the main office and created new science and computer labs, technology shops, and renovation to the automobile shops. Locker rooms were also expanded. While the school was being reconstructed, freshmen and sophomores were housed at School 171 on East Delavan Avenue.
Previous assignment and reason for departure denoted in parentheses
Mr. William B. Kamprath–1931-1957 (Principal - Elm Vocational School, retired)
Mr. Joseph F. Crotty–1957-1970 (Vice Principal - Burgard Vocational High School, died)
Mr. J. Patrick Curry–1970-1984 (Vice Principal - Seneca Vocational High School, retired)
Mr. James F. Harmon–1984-1985 (Principal - McKinley Vocational High School, retired)
Mr. John J. Mattimore–1985-1989 (Principal - South Park High School, retired)
Mr. Rocco A. Lamparelli–1989-1990 (Supervising Principal - Buffalo Public Schools' Secondary Schools, retired)
Mr. Thomas P. Kopera–1990-2002 (Assistant Principal - Lafayette High School, retired)
Mr. James J. Pautler–2002-2006 (Assistant Principal - Kensington High School, assigned to Buffalo Public Schools' Office of Shared Accountability)
Mr. Carlos J. Villarroel [interim]–2006-2007 (Vice Principal - Burgard High School, named Assistant Principal of Frank A. Sedita Academy)
Mrs. Florence S. Krieter–2007-2010 (Interim Assistant Principal - Burgard High School, assigned to Buffalo Schools' Department of School Turnarounds)
Ms. Genelle E. Morris-Adams–2010 [interim] (Director of Data Analysis - Buffalo Public Schools, returned to District Office)
Mr. Brian M. Wiesinger–2010-2014 (Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction - Iroquois Central School District, named Headmaster of South Buffalo Charter School)
Ms. Elizabeth C. Crispin–2014-2015 [interim] (Assistant Principal - Burgard High School, returned to position)
Previous assignment and reason for departure denoted in parentheses
Mr. Laverne H. Engel–1932-1937 (English teacher - Seneca Vocational High School, named Head of Related Subjects for Buffalo Public Schools)
Mr. Joseph M. Crotty–1948-1957 (unknown, named Principal of Burgard Vocational High School)
Dr. William M. Sharp–1957-1962 (Vocational Counselor - Allderdice High School, retired)
Mr. Joseph T. Schmidle–1962-1964 (Teacher - Emerson Vocational High School, named Director of Manpower Development for Buffalo Public Schools Board of Education)
Mr. Archie Rouselle–1964-1972 (Carpentry teacher - McKinley Vocational High School, named Assistant Principal of Emerson Vocational High School)
Mr. Thomas W. Cosgrove [interim]–1969-1970 (Math teacher - Burgard High School, returned to teaching)
Mr. Salvatore J. Sedita–1972-1984 (Math teacher - Emerson Vocational High School, named Principal of Emerson Vocational High School)
Mr. Richard A. Maratto–1984-1985 (Assistant Principal - Brighton High School, named Principal of Kensington High School)
Mr. Alfred H. Rasp–1985-1987 (Assistant Principal - Riverside High School, named Assistant Principal of Kensington Prep)
Mr. Thomas Fiorella–1987-1989
Mr. Donald C. Brusky [interim]–1989-1990 (Physical Education teacher - Burgard High School, returned to position)
Mr. Thomas C. Aquino–1990-1992 (Deputy Youth Director - City of Buffalo, named Supervisor of Personnel/Teacher Aides for Buffalo City Schools)
Mr. Leonard J. Carfley–1992-1993 (Automotive Mechanics teacher - Burgard Vocational High School, retired)
Mrs. Aloma D. Johnson–1993-1996 (Guidance Counselor - Burgard Vocational High School, named Acting Director of Magnet Programs for Buffalo Public Schools)
Mrs. Mary A. Craig–1996-2003 (English teacher - Buffalo Traditional School, named Assistant Principal of Grover Cleveland High School)
Mr. Carlos Villarroel–2003-2006 (Assistant Principal - Grover Cleveland High School, named Interim Principal of Burgard High School)
Mrs. Denise E. Clarke–2003-2005 (ESL Teacher - Burgard High School, named Acting Assistant Principal of Frederick Law Olmsted 64)
Mrs. Florence Schimert Krieter [interim]–2006-2007 (Program Coordinator - Burgard High School, named Interim Principal of Burgard High School)
Mr. Bert L. Stevenson–2007-2008 (Assistant Principal - Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School, named Assistant Principal of Bennett High School)
Dr. Barbara J. Carson-Jones–2008-2010 (Vice Principal - Seneca Vocational High School, retired)
Mrs. Lorenda D. Williams-Chisholm–2010-2013 (Guidance Counselor - Amherst Central High School, named Assistant Principal of Northtowns Academy)
Mr. Andre D. Thomas–2010-2013 (Social Studies teacher - Williamsville North High School, named Assistant Principal of Heim Middle School)
Ms. Lizzy Crispin–2013-2014 (Assistant Principal - Bennett High School, named Interim Principal of Burgard High School)
Mr. Robert R. Maulucci–2013-2014 (English teacher - Burgard High School, named Principal of South Buffalo Charter School)
Mr. Peter A. Hazzan [interim]–2014-2015 (Director of School Leadership - Buffalo Public Schools, terminated)
Ms. Lizzy Crispin–2015 (Interim Principal - Burgard High School, named Assistant Principal of Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy)
Mr. Jason B. Madden–2015-2016 (Assistant Principal - Riverside Institute of Technology, named APPR Specialist of Buffalo Public Schools)
*Denotes interim appointment
Burgard offers Regents level courses as required by New York State. Burgard's curriculum includes a career and technical component in classes such as Automotive Repair Technology, Virtual Enterprise, Welding, Computer-aided design (CAD) & CAM Robotics, and Building Management.
In 2010, Burgard was placed on New York State's list of consistently low-achieving high schools in the state. The school's current graduation rate is 44%, below state standards, and saw a drop in on test scores on Regents exams in all subject areas except Earth science New state requirements state that schools on the list that do not show improvement must either convert to a charter school, replace the building principal and at least 50% of its staff, create incentive pay for high-performing staff and implement staff development for teachers that do not, or close entirely. Superintendent James Williams initially announced that he would keep Principal Florence Schimert-Krieter in place at Burgard despite the fact that doing so would cost the school and district federal funds, approximately two million dollars per year for three years. Following a visit by the state education department, Williams announced that he would remove Krieter as well as the principals at two other Buffalo high schools, with the changes taking effect October 15, 2010. Around that time, it was announced that Burgard had failed to meet the requirements for those grants, and would not receive that funding.
Arlester Christian from the band Dyke and the Blazers
Andre Coleman–former professional football player with the San Diego Chargers and Edmonton Eskimos (Class of 2002)
Brian C. Davis–Former member of Buffalo, NY City Council
Al Dekdebrun
Demone Smith; Member of Buffalo, NY Common Council
James Stockman; Director of North Country Emergency Medical Services Program Agency.
