STATEMENT ON RESUME OF OFFICIAL NOT TRUE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

The resume of Diana Beard-Williams, the ousted Palmdale Education Foundation official suspended from her job with the Palmdale School District, is at odds with her sworn testimony given in a deposition regarding whether or not she has a graduate degree.

Beard-Williams' resume on file with the school district states she has a master's degree in urban affairs, but in a deposition for a court case involving the foundation, she only mentions having a bachelor's degree.

``The highest degree I have officially obtained is a bachelor's,'' Beard-Williams said in the deposition, records show.

Beard-Williams said Friday she is ``comfortable'' with what she has on her resume.

``Whatever is on my resume is what I feel comfortable with, and any clarifications or explanations that need to be made will be made at the appropriate time,'' Beard-Williams said. ``This is not the appropriate time because what we are looking at is a feeding frenzy here with regard to my private life.''

She added that concerns over her resume have nothing to do with the qualifications for the district job as public relations director, which required a bachelor's degree or less.

``I have never misrepresented my ability to perform that job with the district,'' she said.

The deposition of Beard-Williams was conducted Feb. 11 at the offices of attorney R. Rex Parris, who represented foundation President Kathleen Duren.

Duren had obtained a court order Jan. 12 banning Beard-Williams from transacting business for the foundation after Duren said in court papers that foundation money was missing.

The ban was lifted Feb. 25 after Duren's attorneys withdrew their request for a preliminary injunction against Beard-Williams. The foundation board on March 11 ousted Beard-Williams as executive director in a 10-6 vote following a 1-1/2-hour closed session meeting.

Beard-Williams' resume states she has a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in urban affairs, but it does not say from which educational institutions she obtained them.

Beard-Williams said in the deposition that she graduated with a sociology degree from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass. She said she then attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., and studied urban affairs and sociology but did not get a degree, records show.

``I did not complete all the graduate courses,'' Beard-Williams said in the deposition.

Officials at College of the Holy Cross said their records indicate Beard-Williams graduated with a degree in sociology in May 1976. Records at Howard University indicate that Beard-Williams attended between August 1976 and May 1977, officials said.

Beard-Williams was placed on paid leave in December from her $59,347 district job as public relations director by Superintendent Nancy Smith, who charged Beard-Williams with misconduct and harassing district employees. Beard-Williams has complained that she has not been told exactly what she is accused of doing wrong.

Beard-Williams was placed on leave after accusing Smith of attempting to defraud the Head Start program.

A Los Angeles County Office of Education audit found the district incorrectly charged Head Start $178,496 for salaries and benefits for employees not associated with the program, but made no findings of fraud.

Smith has denied charges she is retaliating against Beard-Williams.

Smith on Friday said the district will consider the discrepancy between Beard-Williams' resume and her deposition statements in deciding her job status.

An investigation into the charges against Beard-Williams has been completed by attorneys hired by the district, and Smith said she will be forwarding her recommendations to the board soon.

``It will be one of the grounds that we look at as we evaluate what we are going to do,'' Smith said. ``We assumed she had it. We assumed it was checked out by personnel.''

Smith said Beard-Williams was hired because she came across as the best qualified candidate.

``I felt at the time she was the best applicant for the job through the testing and interview process. It was the consensus of all three people who interviewed her,'' Smith said.