Technical School Settles Civil Suit by Agreeing to $165,000 in Penalties : Education: Owner says he is closing the school. Student complaints had led to investigation and lawsuit by the attorney general’s office.

Accused of misleading students with false promises of employment, a vocational school in Paramount has agreed to a settlement in which it will pay $165,000 in civil penalties and student reimbursements, the attorney general’s office said.

And the owner of Beta Technical Schools says that he is closing the school altogether. Owner Terry L. Graves said he stopped accepting new students several months ago at the Paramount school, and is attempting to place 21 remaining students in other vocational schools.

Branches in Long Beach and Anaheim were closed after the attorney general filed a civil lawsuit in March, 1990. The lawsuit accused the school of making “untrue or misleading statements. . . with the intent to induce members of the public to contract for courses of study.”

In a settlement last month, the school did not admit any wrongdoing, but it agreed to several operating conditions that apparently will become moot with the closing of the Paramount operation. The school agreed not to advertise training, equipment or materials that it does not provide. The school also agreed in the settlement to employ qualified teachers and consented not to withhold grades or services because students file complaints with government agencies.

“We’ve admitted to nothing,” Graves said. “Anyone can say what they want and then sue. We’ve agreed to our settlement and we’re moving on.”

The attorney general’s office initiated the investigation of Beta Technical Schools after about 20 dissatisfied students registered complaints in mid-1989, said Joyce Simmons, consumer protection analyst.

The lawsuit alleges that, beginning in 1989, the school began offering a three-month course for a total tuition of $5,000. The program was advertised as a training ground for students to become “auto technicians . . . including (providing) the training necessary to pass the state qualifying exam for smog check certification.”

In the lawsuit, students alleged that the advertisements were misleading because the school “did not have adequate equipment, workshop space or vehicles on which to work.” The students also said the school was not certified to offer smog certification training.

Graves said that the California Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Education and the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training, a private agency, all had approved the program. Graves said he thought that was all he needed.

“I discovered (after starting the program) that the smog certification class fell into the area that could have required the approval of the (state) Bureau of Automotive Repair,” Graves said. “It is an example of too many agencies regulating a school.”

Graves bought Beta Technical Schools in 1983. The school was founded in 1961.

In addition to automotive technology, the school curriculum consisted of programs in computer-assisted drafting and word processing.