COUNTY ELECTIONS / BOARD OF EDUCATION : 3 of the 5 Incumbents Face Challenges by Educators, INS Agent, Businessmen : Trustees oversee department programs for homeless and disabled, among others. Candidates give views on budgets, curricula.

Three of five seats on the Orange County Board of Education are up for grabs in the June 2 election.

The board, which commands a $70-million-plus annual budget, oversees the Department of Education, which administers countywide school programs, such as special education for the severely disabled, outdoor education, Juvenile Court schools, child care, independent study for students not in school and classes for homeless children.

The board also is responsible for reviewing each district’s budget and processing each district’s payroll. It functions as an appeals board for student expulsions and interdistrict transfers.

The five trustees represent different geographical areas of the county. Each serves a four-year term and receives $400 per year.

Three incumbents are being challenged: Roger W. Belgen, who represents Fountain Valley, Westminster and parts of Santa Ana and Garden Grove; Francis X. Hoffman, who serves Anaheim, Buena Park, La Palma, Placentia, Stanton and portions of Orange; and Dean McCormick, who represents Brea, Fullerton, La Habra, Yorba Linda and parts of Orange, North Tustin, El Toro and Mission Viejo.

The terms of the two other trustees do not expire until 1994.

Belgen, 61, who was appointed six months ago to replace Judith Michaels, who resigned, is a fixture in the education community, having served 18 years on the Fountain Valley School District board.

In campaigning for reelection, Belgen emphasizes his years of experience developing sound budgets in times of declining revenue. He also expresses strong support for a traditional curriculum of math, reading, science, social studies and fine art.

Belgen faces two challengers:

* Felix Rocha Jr., 47, an Immigration and Naturalization Service agent, who believes that trustees should become more visible in the communities and more vocal on issues pertinent to education, such as gangs, drugs and child abuse.

* Richard F. Avard, 57, a businessman, wants to streamline the Board of Education’s bureaucracy. He opposes the expenditure of tax dollars to educate undocumented immigrants, wants prayer and limited corporal punishment returned to the schools and favors a better developed vocational program.

Incumbent Hoffman, 43, an unsuccessful candidate for Congress and the state Senate, says he wants to concentrate more money in the classroom and less on the administrative bureaucracy.

With eight years’ tenure on the board, Hoffman has cast himself as the budget-conscious candidate who has consistently voted against “luxury budgets, salaries and perks.” That claim, however, is contested by two of his challengers, who contend that during those eight years, the board’s budget has doubled.

Hoffman dismisses such criticism, saying he has repeatedly voted against adopting the board budget--often as the lone such vote--because it was not lean enough. Hoffman notes that none of his challengers have accepted his offer to debate.

Hoffman is battling three challengers:

* Curtis E. Smith, 58, an educator and counselor, says local districts should have more power over the decisions that affect them, both by shifting more control of state-mandated programs to the local level and by opening up the county board to increased input from school leaders. He wants county administrators to spend time on campuses to keep them in touch with the realities of school life.

* Arlene Sontag, 58, a fire department educator and administrator, wants to see the schools exchange more ideas with the board and hopes to establish a task force to address the multicultural diversity in the schools. By involving private industry in the schools and beefing up vocational education, Sontag said students will be better equipped to lead productive lives upon graduation.

* Joan S. Primrose, 63, a teacher, says the board should press for state reform that would equalize the amount of money given to each district. She wants to see stricter treatment of students with drug or behavior problems, with clear guidelines laid down for the consequences of their actions. Primrose also said disadvantaged students have received too much attention and money and that more resources should be rerouted to higher-achieving students.

The third incumbent, McCormick, 61, emphasizes his 16 years of experience on the board. He takes some credit for bringing about a budget shift in which classroom money takes up an increasing percentage of the budget and administrative costs a decreasing portion. McCormick also makes note of a number of programs that were initiated with money from business at no cost to the taxpayers.

McCormick is being challenged by two candidates:

* James Paul Aynes, 47, an attorney, says he wants to increase financial accountability by the board and the districts, suggesting that each district’s spending on administration, outside consultants, special studies and other non-classroom activities be publicized.

Aynes criticizes the board’s financial record, pointing to an Orange County Grand Jury inquiry that found questionable financial management and saying he saw “waste and inefficiency” when he worked as a lawyer for the education department.

Responding to those accusations, McCormick has said he welcomes the grand jury “taking the time to look us over and give us some thoughts and ideas as to how we could improve our operation.”

* Todd Henry, 26, a businessman, emphasizes the need for decentralized decision-making at the board, giving more authority to local school districts and actively soliciting input from citizens.

He also focuses on the need for expanded child-care programs, saying they could be instituted with little cost to taxpayers.

Orange County Board of Education

Here are the candidates running for three seats on the Orange County Board of Education in the June 2 election.

AREA 1

Richard F. Avard

Age: 57

Home: Fountain Valley

Occupation: Manufacturer’s representative, building materials trade.

Background: Co-founder and president of Taxpayers Action Network.

Priorities: Wants to streamline the Board of Education’s bureaucracy; advocates revamping bilingual education programs and reintroducing prayer and limited corporal punishment into the schools; opposes public education of illegal immigrants.

Roger W. Belgen

Age: 61

Home: Fountain Valley

Occupation: Incumbent; staff manager, McDonnell Douglas Space Systems.

Background: Appointed to the board in 1991 to fill an unexpired term; served on PTA executive boards, 18 years on Fountain Valley school board.

Priorities: Focus on teaching of reading, math, science, fine arts and social studies.

Felix Rocha Jr.

Age: 47

Home: Fountain Valley

Occupation: Senior special agent, Immigration and Naturalization Service

Background: Active in Boy Scouts activities; executive board member for Justice INS Federal Credit Union in Laguna Niguel.

Priorities: Advocates more involvement by board members in local school districts, especially in combatting drugs, gangs and child abuse and expanding AIDS education.

AREA 3

Francis X. Hoffman

Age: 43

Home: Anaheim

Occupation: Incumbent, attorney, teacher

Background: Elected to the board in 1984; active in PTA; has served on boards of directors of nonprofit educational corporations.

Priorities: Advocates cutting excessive salaries, budgets and perquisites at the county Board of Education.

Joan S. Primrose

Age: 63

Home: Anaheim

Occupation: Teacher

Background: Teacher for 24 years in private and public schools in Anaheim and Garden Grove; has done volunteer work for abused children and single teen mothers.

Priorities: Advocates establishing firm rules of discipline for students with drug or behavior problems; believes in equalizing state spending on school districts.

Curtis E. Smith

Age: 58

Home: Anaheim

Occupation: Educator/counselor

Background: Counselor/chaplain at Brea Community Hospital and Newhope Community Church.

Priorities: Advocates year-round schools, establishment of community advisory board to the county Board of Education and the Adopt-a-School program matching businesses and local schools; opposes condom distribution on campus.

Arlene Sontag

Age: 58

Home: Anaheim

Occupation: Fire Department educator/ administrator

Background: Public administrator for Orange County for 13 years; recipient of the 1992 Orange County Human Relations Commission award; served as chairwoman, National Women’s Political Caucus of California.

Priorities: Advocates more emphasis on vocational education and more private industry involvement in schools.

AREA 4

James Paul Aynes

Age: 47

Home: Lake Forest

Occupation: Education law attorney

Background: Assistant Scoutmaster, Boy Scouts; active in First Lutheran Church of Fullerton; newsletter editor, Sonora PTA; five years as attorney for Orange County Department of Education.

Priorities: Advocates reducing class size and directing more state money to students and less to administration.

Todd Henry

Age: 26

Home: Mission Viejo

Occupation: Businessman

Background: Member of California Republican Assembly; served on county rail and transit committees.

Priorities: Advocates expanding county’s child day-care program, increasing citizen input in board decisions and lobbying for more funding for Orange County schools.

Dean McCormick

Age: 61

Home: Santa Ana

Occupation: Incumbent; general manager for a transportation company

Background: Elected to the board in 1976; served on Tustin school board and was president of California School Boards Assn. and Orange County School Boards Assn.

Priorities: Wants to strengthen relationship between schools and community and maximize each student’s educational potential.