Countywide : Juvenile, Special Ed Resources Scarce

A year into the county’s financial crisis, relatively little attention has been paid to the bankruptcy’s effect on the Orange County Department of Education, which is in charge of schooling the severely disabled as well as students in the juvenile justice system.

Like all school districts, the department still is missing 10% of the money it had in the county’s collapsed investment pool. Officials still are waiting to recover that money, which amounts to about $7 million for the department and $106 million for all Orange County school districts.

“Chances are we are not going to get it any time soon,” said John F. Dean, superintendent of the department. “We are having to play it close to the vest.”

The loss has not resulted in reductions in educational services, though. Dean said state law prohibits officials from increasing class sizes at its facilities for disabled students.

Instead, the department has trimmed the fat wherever it can, cutting some jobs and requiring the employees who remain to do more work. Supplies such as pencils and paper still are available, Dean said, but he has urged teachers to request materials only if they are truly needed.

“This is hardly business as usual, and it won’t be until all the districts get their $106 million back,” he said.