Auditor to Probe Grade Switching at O.C. School

Brea Olinda High School officials acknowledged Thursday that academic counselors altered about 360 student grades last fall--a procedure they now concede is illegal--and hired an auditor to investigate the widening scandal at one of the county’s most prominent high schools.

As the scope of the grade switching attributed to several former counselors emerged Thursday, it was also revealed that Principal John Johnson has been aware of the proceeding since last fall, when the school’s former registrar reported it to him. But Brea Olinda Unified School District Supt. Edgar Z. Seal and school board members said they knew nothing of the effort to boost students’ grade-point averages until the last few weeks.

Educators reacted with alarm to news that the counselors had changed 1992-93 letter grades to simple “pass” notations on student records, a practice they said damages the reputations of counselors and the public schools.

‘Oh my God!” exclaimed California Teachers Assn. President Del Weber when he heard the news. “For somebody sitting in an office to change a grade, who’s never taught the kid in that class, is absolutely unconscionable. . . . It destroys the credibility of the whole system.”

Added Fred Johnson, head counselor at La Quinta High School in Westminster: “Changing transcripts is one of those sacrosanct things. You just don’t touch them.”

Meanwhile, a longtime Brea Olinda English teacher said she has filed an official complaint with the state’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing against Brea Olinda Principal Johnson and former counselor Geraldine Gordon, who she feels are responsible for the grade switching.

In her June 8 complaint, Janet Kolb said she learned of the grade switching from another teacher in May. She alleges that former registrar Joanne Rizuto told her that grades in math, foreign languages and English were changed.

“I am appalled and heartsick,” said Kolb, who has taught at Brea Olinda for 27 years. “I (filed the complaint) after much soul-searching and anxiety, not because I wanted to, but because I had to.”

Credentialing commission officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.

In an interview Thursday, Gordon, who now heads the college and career center in the Capistrano Unified School District, denied being involved in the switching of students’ grades.

“I don’t remember at all OKing P grades for academic classes. That was not anything I approved,” Gordon said. “I’m not trying to pass the buck, but the registrar was leaving and I was leaving and if something crossed my desk I could have passed it on.

“I’m sorry that they’re in such a mess,” Gordon said of her former employer. “I love Brea. It is such an incredible school. They have done so much good for so many people. They’ve always had the best interests of students at heart. I was always proud to be there--and I’m still proud to be from there.”

Johnson, who acknowledged learning about the grade switching last October, said he immediately changed all inappropriate “pass” notations back to letter grades on official transcripts.

“We just know that there were some mistakes made and we’ve corrected them. And everything is where it should be,” he said, declining to comment further.

Rizuto, who became Brea Olinda’s registrar last summer, said in an interview Thursday that she immediately noticed problems with student transcripts, such as incorrect course titles and students taking the same courses twice.

Rizuto said that last September, after returning from time off for foot surgery, she found that hundreds of grades from the previous year had been switched from letter grades to “pass.” Rizuto said she had repeated discussions with Johnson, who ordered the letter grades reinstated.

Rizuto eventually resigned in May, both because she was upset over the handling of the grade switching and for financial reasons, she said.

The grade switching came to school board members’ attention last month, when the local teachers’ union filed a grievance. It became public Monday, when it was openly discussed by the school board for the first time.

Seal, who said the grade switching “probably was a combination of all of the counselors trying to see what they could do to help students get into college,” admitted that the actions were illegal and unethical.

“We don’t change grades,” he said. “That’s why we changed them all back. Every one of those grades had to be changed back so those transcripts are in their original shape.”

No disciplinary action against school administrators is planned, he said.

School trustees reacted cautiously, saying they would wait for the auditor’s report on the matter.

‘We’re going to evaluate what happened and put policies and procedures into place so it won’t happen again,” Trustee Lynn Daucher said. “We’re going to ask lots of questions. We’re going to make sure that no students get hurt, because it wasn’t their fault.” Added Trustee Barbara Paxton: “We’re not going to sweep this under the rug by any stretch, but I’m not going to point fingers or name names.”

According to Seal, the district first initiated a pass/fail option in 1985 to encourage students to take advanced mathematics courses without fear of hurting their grade-point averages. Officially, students must select the pass/fail option within the first six weeks of enrollment in a class and must receive permission from their teachers, parents and counselors to do so.

“It kind of evolved over a period of time,” said Seal, who is retiring this month after 37 years in education and 12 heading the Brea Olinda district. “It spun out of control.”

After a faculty meeting on Thursday, administrators decided to permit the pass/fail option only on elective courses in the future. The district also hired a registrar from another local school to audit Brea Olinda’s grade books this summer.

According to the state Education Code, teachers have the sole authority to determine grades. Under the law, administrators or school board officials are allowed to change a grade only in case of “fraud, bad faith or incompetency,” and teachers must be given a chance to respond to the recommended change.

Weber, the teachers’ union president, and several local superintendents said they had never before heard of such widespread grade-changing.

In previous individual cases where an administrator changed a student’s grade--often for political reasons or to help qualify the student for athletic competition--teachers’ unions have filed suit and often prevail in court, experts said.

“Teachers are the ones responsible for giving grades, counselors work with students and advise students and are student advocates,” said Jackie Allen, president of the American School Counselor Assn. “To my knowledge, it is not a practice that counselors without teacher permission do anything in terms of grades.”

Several school counselors around the county said the grade changes may reflect the pressure counselors are under to help students present the best possible portfolios for college applications, pressure that is especially severe at competitive schools like Brea Olinda.

About 400 students graduate from Brea Olinda each year, and 70% of them go directly to college. The school consistently posts high scores on standardized tests and has one of the lowest dropout rates in the county.

Last year, Brea Olinda was named a Blue Ribbon school, the nation’s highest academic honor for a school. Several months ago, students were featured on nationally televised Pacific Bell advertisements touting the school’s high-technology opportunities.

Students said the school’s prominence increases a fierce need to succeed.

“It doesn’t really surprise me that it happened,” said one 17-year-old, who will be a senior in the fall. “Here (at Brea Olinda), it’s really important to be No. 1.”

The girl, who said she ranks near the top of her class, alleged that a counselor told her that if she asked for a P instead of a letter grade in one course, she could earn her class’s top ranking.

Parent-Teacher-Student Organization President Kris M. St. Clair also criticized the grade changing but said she retains confidence in the school.

“I’m really sorry that all this happened and I’m very happy that our school board has acted to take corrective measures,” she said. “Definitely, the students should receive the grades that they have earned. I think all parents basically feel that way.”

Times staff writer Tammy Hyunjoo Kresta and correspondent Danielle A. Fouquette contributed to this report.