Parents Call for State Audit of Spending by School District : Granada Hills: A group denounces what it calls waste, mismanagement and squandering of funds on unnecessary projects.

A group of Granada Hills High School parents Tuesday called on state authorities to conduct a “complete audit” of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s finances, accusing the district of mismanagement and wasteful spending practices.

At a morning news conference in the campus parking lot, about a dozen parents gathered to denounce the district for hiring what they contend are unnecessary employees, such as administrative consultants. The group also accused officials of devoting too much money to lobbying efforts in Sacramento and squandering funds on attempts to improve the district’s public image.

“We have a staff and a board . . . who seem only accountable to the people they see in the mirror every morning,” said parent activist Barbara Romey, a former school board candidate. “Nobody’s watching the shop.”

Romey said she and three other parents dispatched a letter last week to state Atty. Gen. Daniel E. Lungren requesting an investigation into the district’s spending patterns. She added that she plans to send similar letters to Gov. Pete Wilson, state lawmakers and state education authorities.

“As taxpayers, we are basically shareholders in the education business, and this education business is not being accountable,” said Peter Chan, vice president of the school’s booster club. “Show us everything.”

Tuesday’s news conference represented a departure from the kind of rallies staged throughout the past month by parents and students over cuts in education funding. In those demonstrations, protesters have directed their anger largely at state lawmakers over threatened education cutbacks, but Romey said Tuesday it was useless to complain of insufficient state funding when the district itself needed to “clean house.”

She also dismissed as inadequate a budget probe concluded earlier this month by an independent commission. Headed by former state Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, the panel recommended nearly $100 million in cost-saving measures to soften proposed pay cuts for district employees.

The mammoth school system--the nation’s second largest--is facing its worst-ever fiscal crisis this year and has struggled for months to close a $400-million budget gap. The Board of Education is scheduled to vote on a final spending plan today.

Board members met in closed session Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

Romey, who mounted unsuccessful bids for a school board seat in 1987 and 1989, said a deeper look into district finances is needed to eliminate unwarranted expenditures. At the news conference, parents distributed a packet of news clippings and a typewritten list showing the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by district officials on travel, personal aides and hiring a public relations firm to polish the district’s image.

“You may say it’s only nickels and dimes. . . . But who is going to stand up” and call the district to task? Romey asked.

Romey and the others called the news conference after meeting with teachers over the last two weeks. Parents who were worried about the effect of low teacher morale on their children and instructors upset by proposed pay cuts met to air their concerns, then joined forces in attacking the district’s spending practices, Romey said.