ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : BOND TICKER : Strapped Schools May Seek State Grants to Buy Books

Seeking help: Three Orange County school districts hit hard by the financial crisis might seek state grants to purchase textbooks.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District trustees on Tuesday night discussed whether to ask for $28,000 in state money to buy new math textbooks this spring. District officials said they aren’t sure if they will be able to afford the books without aid.

“Given the current situation, we aren’t sure if we’ll have the money,” said Supt. Mac Bernd. “A lot depends on if we get 100% of our money back” from the collapsed county investment pool.

In February, the Irvine Unified School District will consider seeking $35,000 in state grants to buy textbooks, said Dean Waldfogel, the acting superintendent. “The price of textbooks has gone up so much, it’s ridiculous,” he said, adding that a typical calculus textbook can cost $80 to $100.

The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District is expected to ask for a $37,000 grant.

The three districts were among five Orange County school systems that borrowed money to invest in the county pool. They are competing for grants made possible by the state’s Pupil Textbook and Instructional Materials Act, which was signed into law last year and provides about $9 million statewide for basic classroom items.

*

Recall petition ready: The county Registrar of Voters office on Tuesday approved the wording of a petition aimed at recalling Supervisor Roger R. Stanton.

The decision means that the organizer of the recall movement, Felix Rocha Jr. of Fountain Valley, can begin collecting signatures.

Rocha, a county Department of Education trustee, has until July 3 to collect the signatures of 15,031 registered voters in Stanton’s supervisorial district, said Bev Warner, a Registrar of Voters official. That amounts to 10% of all registered voters in the district, which includes Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Fountain Valley.

If Rocha collects enough signatures and they are verified by the registrar’s office, a recall election would be held later this year.

Rocha, 49, personally served Stanton with recall papers in December. In his statement of intent, Rocha accused Stanton of “malfeasance and nonfeasance in office” in regards to the county financial crisis.

In a written response last month to the recall effort, Stanton stressed he would fight tax increases in the wake of the financial crisis: “I am urging all Orange County residents to help me achieve my long-held goals--to streamline county government and fix accountability among administrators.”

*

Defense funds: The county this week added money to a trust fund that will allow court-appointed attorneys to move forward with several criminal cases nearing trial. Included was more than $90,000 for investigators and expert witnesses in the Richard K. Overton murder case, officials said.

Attorney George A. Peters Jr., who is representing Overton, sought a court order Jan. 6 demanding the county put funds aside for the case. Overton has pleaded not guilty to poisoning his wife and is scheduled to go on trial next month, although that likely will be postponed for several weeks, Peters said.

“I’m relieved we have the funds to press forward on this very complex, scientific case,” Peters said. But, he said his request for payment of his own fees remains unresolved.