Countywide : County Education Chief Answers Jury Criticism

Robert D. Peterson, Orange County superintendent of education, criticized as “totally erroneous” Thursday a grand jury report that called for cutting back the Orange County Department of Education.

Peterson said that the county Department of Education, which has a $51-million budget this school year, doesn’t waste taxpayer money or needlessly duplicate services, as the grand jury had charged.

At a press conference at the county Hall of Administration, Peterson formally responded to a report issued in June by the recently concluded 1984-85 Orange County Grand Jury. The report called on the state to all but eliminate the department.

Peterson said the department had met with the new grand jury Wednesday and presented a voluminous response to the 1984-85 grand jury’s recommendations.

The county education chief also repeatedly criticized the 1984-85 grand jury, saying its “general approach of surveying (had produced) completely erroneous information.”

He added: “It’s amazing that they (grand jurors) would miss the target to the extent that they did.”

Peterson said that 75% of the department’s budget each year goes for direct teaching services. The department has responsibility for teaching 20,000 handicapped children and juvenile delinquents who are restricted or incarcerated, he said.

The grand jury, however, said in its report that the juvenile court schools and special schools for the handicapped could be operated by the 28 existing elementary, secondary and unified school districts in the county.