A SPECIAL REPORT: SCHOOLS

CHANGING TIMES: For the first time in Orange County, Caucasian students this year will probably not be a majority in the public schools. . . . Last year, whites made up 50.7% of the population in kindergarten through 12th grades, and although ethnic and racial enrollment figures haven’t been compiled yet this year, the county is expected to have “a majority of minorities,” says James Fulton, head of the state Department of Education’s demographics unit. . . . The population of Latinos, African-Americans, Asians and other minorities made up more than half the student population in California schools for the first time in 1988, but in Los Angeles County it occurred more than 13 years ago.