O'CONNELL SAYS CHARTERS FOR AT-RISK TEENS OVERPAID STATE SUPERINTENDENT SAYS AUDIT DISPUTES $57 MILLION.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer

The state is owed $57 million by an affiliated pair of charter school organizations that should not have claimed the money, California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said Wednesday.

O'Connell's comments came as he released an audit on operations of Options for Youth and Opportunities for Learning, the OFY/OFL group that serves teens at risk of dropping out of high school. Some of the OFY/OFL schools are in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

``I am deeply disturbed with many aspects of the OFY/OFL audit report - its descriptions of nepotism, excessive compensation and mixing of businesses that are privately owned with public schools controlled by the same individuals,'' O'Connell said.

The OFY/OFL sister organizations are operated by John and Joan Hall and their family members. In all, the Halls receive up to $644,000 a year and other benefits under their contracts for running OFY and OFL.

Auditors who looked at OFY/OFL expenditures for three fiscal years, in 2002-05, faulted OFY for donating $10.8 million in 2002 to create a charity called Pathways for Education, which they said has not spent much money on programs for California youths.

And they faulted OFY for spending $32,000 in three years for employee parties at Disneyland.

In all, O'Connell said the audit identified $57 million in funding over three fiscal years that should be returned to the state. That includes money involved in a dispute over how teacher salaries are calculated, an issue OFL/OFY sued the state over earlier this year.

OFL/OFY officials said their schools are doing a good job of teaching about 25,000 California students a year, and they said test scores prove it.

``What's happening is here we have an organization -- two organizations that are delivering results,'' said Kerry Mazzoni, former California secretary of education and a consultant for OFL/OFY.

``We want to continue to improve,'' Mazzoni said. ``But we're doing it in a different manner, and I think it's not appropriate or fair to use an absolute comparison with a traditional public school system.''

Through a charter with the Burbank Unified School District, OFY operates two facilities in Burbank and other facilities in Van Nuys, Sylmar and Northridge, serving a total of 1,700 students.

Through a charter with the William S. Hart Union High School District, OFL operates seven facilities, spread out in Santa Clarita, Lancaster, Palmdale and Ridgecrest. Those also serve about 1,700 students.

OFY and OFL, which also have schools in other parts of California, operate out of storefronts, giving students who have struggled at traditional schools a place to come in once or twice a week and get help from teachers. The students do schoolwork at home.

Among those joining O'Connell on Wednesday were representatives from Riverside and Sacramento counties and the California Charter Schools Association, an organization in which OFL/OFY does not have membership.

O'Connell said he will look to local school districts that charter OFL or OFY schools to examine the audit's findings and re-evaluating their relationships with the organizations.

Burbank Unified Superintendent Greg Bowman said OFY's charter with the district is not up for renewal for a couple of years.

``We take our direction from the county and the (California) Department of Education and, of course, by statute under the law,'' Bowman said. ``So there are many things that could happen here, but nothing right now.''

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

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