Grade-Change Audit to Decide if a Broader Investigation Is Needed : Education: Report is due July 18 on the unauthorized altering of student transcripts at Brea Olinda High School.

An auditor Friday began looking into past grade-changing practices at Brea Olinda High School to determine if a broader investigation is warranted, officials said.

Rachel Alcorn, a registrar at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, was hired by the Brea Olinda Unified School District Board of Education on Thursday to audit the high school’s computerized transcripts.

District officials have said that former guidance counselors unlawfully changed more than 360 letter grades of students from the 1992-93 school year to simple “pass” notations.

In addition to the grade changes, some course titles were changed, allowing students to take the same course twice and earn double credit, district officials said. The changes boosted grade-point averages and increased chances for graduation and entrance to colleges and universities, they acknowledged.

Alcorn is scheduled on July 18 to inform the board of her findings and recommend whether a broader investigation is needed.

Alcorn said she spent her first day checking the computer files and figuring out where student transcripts are stored.

She has worked as Sunny Hills’ registrar for the past eight years and constantly deals with student grades and transcripts there, she said. Although she is from the Fullerton Joint Union High School District, she said she is familiar with Brea Olinda High’s computer system.

In addition to hiring Alcorn, the Board of Education on Thursday night decided to use the Orange County Department of Education’s legal counsel to help determine what past procedures led to the grade changing and what policies should be developed to prevent a recurrence.

“Everyone is anxious to get on with the (investigation) and not have it drag out,” Trustee Leonard MacKain said.

District officials said they hope the investigation will be completed by September.

School board members said once they know who changed the grades and why, they will determine whether to consider disciplinary action.

“I’m reserving any opinion I might formulate with respect to disciplinary action until this investigation is final,” Trustee Todd A. Spitzer said. “But I’m pleased that we’re handling this issue in a very appropriate way.”

District administrators said last month that they did not plan any disciplinary action because they believed the grade switching was done only to help students--not to intentionally deceive. They also hired an auditor last month without informing the school board. That auditor later refused to take the job.

Supt. Edgar Z. Seal conceded he knew about the grade changing since February but did not tell the school board.

Brea Olinda’s principal, John Johnson, ordered the switched grades restored when he learned of the situation last October. But the school board did not become aware of the matter until May when the Brea Olinda Teachers Assn. filed a grievance, officials said.

“After much dissension on the appropriate way to handle the serious nature of this investigation, I’m glad that the administration is now keeping the board apprised of everything as it develops,” Spitzer said. In turn, the board will keep the public informed, he said.

A letter describing “grading irregularities” and providing information on the school board’s most recent action to correct the matter is being mailed to parents and district staff members.

“The board’s goal is to keep the parents informed as to what the nature of the problem is and what’s being done about it,” MacKain said.