By JULIE DRAKE Valley Press Staff Writer

Executive Director Kamal Al-Khatib said it is the school's policy to update the public and the school district about the two most important aspects of the Palmdale Boulevard school - academics and its financial health. Guidance serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade with its current enrollment at 248 students.

Al-Khatib conducted a press conference Monday morning with Del Preston, who serves as clerk on Guidance's governing board, and Palmdale School District trustee Sandy Corrales-Eneix, to do just that. Guidance received its charter through the Palmdale School District in 2001.

"This year the good news - we're going to be paying off our loans," he said. "So our school will be paid off, free and clear."

The school's assets are roughly $1.3 million, with $163,000 in outstanding debt tied to its lease of modular classrooms. This year, Al-Khatib said all of the school's 22 employees received raises this year, anywhere from 3.5% to 15%.

"It did not go to administrators," Al-Khatib said. "It went mostly to classified staff and teachers."

Guidance closed out the 2008-09 school year with an ending cash balance of $186,291, according to an audit by San Diego-based firm Hosaka, Nagel & Co.

Corrales-Eneix called Guidance's financial health "unprecedented."

"You rarely see such a young school … that has paid off its financial debt," Corrales-Eneix said.

She said even traditional school districts such as the Palmdale School District find themselves in 20- or 30-year financial commitments in which they have not paid off certain debt or have continued it.

"So to see this type of financial audit prove that within a year the Guidance Charter School will be free and clear of financial debt is remarkable," Corrales-Eneix said.

Corrales-Eneix said Guidance Charter made a commitment early on to operate on a bare-bones, no-frills budget.

Preston credited Al-Khatib for his leadership in helping to make Guidance Charter a success.

"The years of experience of working with him have shown that we can trust him," Preston said.

Corrales-Eneix said Guidance has always been public and transparent with its reports. She said the Palmdale School District has been diligent in ensuring the charter school is in full financial and academic compliance.

Al-Khatib praised the support the school has received from the Palmdale School District, including Superintendent Roger Gallizzi.

"I thank him for that," he said, adding that he is proud to be a partner with the Palmdale School District.

Academically, Guidance registered double-digit growth on its Academic Performance Index scores, jumping 59 points from 686 points in 2008 to 745 points this year, according to preliminary scores released last month by the state Department of Education.

"At a test score rate API of 745, the Guidance Charter School exceeds the average of the Palmdale School District from all our 27 sites," Corrales-Eneix said. "It is certainly on its way with a 59-point increase this year to reach 800 points, which is the benchmark of the highest-performing school."

Regarding to the federal government's Adequate Yearly Progress index, Guidance saw increases among the percentage of students who scored advanced or proficient in English-language arts and mathematics.

According to figures released last month by the state, 41.7% of Guidance Charter School students scored advanced or proficient in English-language arts, and 49.7% scored advanced or proficient in mathematics for 2009. Last year, 38.7% of Guidance students scored advanced or proficient in English-language arts, and 32% scored advanced or proficient in math.