Commentary It’s September and California’s students are back in school. They endured more than a year away from their campuses, thanks to the governor’s lockdown response to the COVID-19 virus. How did the pandemic impact the finances of Orange County’s school districts? The audited financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020 are now available. Reviewing the “Statement of Net Position” and obtaining the “Unrestricted Net Position,” the 27 school districts have increased their cumulative net deficit by $331 million—from $4.57 billion to $4.90 billion. This is about a 7.25 percent change in the wrong direction, or a $90 per capita average increase in liabilities placed on the shoulders of each person residing in the districts. The coronavirus shelter-in-place mandate began just a few months before the June 30, 2020, fiscal year end. But it had a noticeable impact, as this negative trend grew by only 5 percent …
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