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Orange County Special EducationPublicCosta Mesa, CAGrades TK-12331 students

Orange County Special Education: A special education center. No Scope Score publishes here.

A Scope Score ranks schools a family can choose between. At Orange County Special Education, students are placed here by an IEP team, not by address and not by lottery — so a comparative rank would measure something a family's choice never entered. We show what California reports and hold the rank.

special education center

no score · no band · no rank — enrollment assigned, not chosen

331 students · placed by an IEP team

Every figure below is California's own, reported for this school and shown without a rank. Why we withhold a score →

Orange County Special Education is a special education center in Costa Mesa, California. SchoolScope publishes no Scope Score, performance band, archetype or ranking for schools where enrollment is assigned rather than chosen, so its CDE CAASPP 2025 results appear here unranked.

36 students were tested here on last year's CAASPP. 0.0% met or exceeded the standard; 0.0% exceeded it.

Chronic absenteeism ran 33.5%; the suspension rate was 2.0%. California reports both the same way it does for every school — this page just doesn't rank them here.

Worth a conversation

If a placement here is part of a child's IEP, this page is background, not the decision — the IEP team meeting is where fit actually gets decided.

  • Ask how this placement was determined, and what the annual IEP review looks at.
  • Ask what related services — speech, occupational therapy, counseling — are provided on site.
  • Ask how and when a return to a less-restrictive setting gets reconsidered.
CAASPP 2024–25

This school against the California average

2019–2025 trend · CDE CAASPP
% Exceeded% Met+Grad rateCollege readinessAbsenceSuspension
This school0%0%34.3%0.0%33.5%2.0%
CA average · High School (for reference)20%43%92.5%43.0%23.1%3.3%
This schoolCA avg
% Exceeded0%20%
% Met+0%43%
Grad rate34.3%92.5%
College readiness0.0%43.0%
Absence33.5%23.1%
Suspension2.0%3.3%
Who it works for · CAASPP 2024–25

How every group of students does here

Met or exceeded · reading and math combined
All students at this school: 0% met or exceeded
All StudentsAll Students: this school 0%, district —, state 43%0%
Students with DisabilitiesStudents with Disabilities: this school 0%, district 7%, state 15%0%
Socioeconomically DisadvantagedSocioeconomically Disadvantaged: this school 0%, district 9%, state 32%0%
Hispanic/LatinoHispanic/Latino: this school 0%, district 8%, state 32%0%

7 of 11 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.

this school district, same group California, same group
ShowHide California's growth model by student group
AP access · 2020-21 federal civil rights snapshot (structural, dated — newest published; biennial)
Shown, never scored

In the 2020-21 federal collection — the newest there is — Hispanic students were 54% of Orange County Special Education's enrollment but 0% of its AP seats; ask the school what's changed since.

Hispanic0.0% AP · 53.7% enroll.
American Indian/Alaska Native0.0% AP · 1.0% enroll.
Asian100.0% AP · 15.1% enroll.
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander0.0% AP · 0.7% enroll.
Black0.0% AP · 5.2% enroll.
White0.0% AP · 22.5% enroll.
Two or more races0.0% AP · 1.7% enroll.
English learners0.0% AP · 24.8% enroll.
Students with disabilities100.0% AP · 99.8% enroll.

● share of AP enrollment vs share of total enrollment, this school only · not part of the Scope Score

Data source: U.S. Dept. of Education Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection, 2020-21 (biennial; newest published)

Attendance & discipline · 2024–25

Kids here miss more school, and get suspended less, than the state average.

TK/K students miss school at roughly twice the rate of Grades 4–6 students (56.3% vs 22.0%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the earliest grades — worth asking how the school works with new families on attendance.

Chronic absenteeismChronic absenteeism: this school 33.5%, district 14.6%, state 23.1%33.5%
Suspension rateSuspension rate: this school 2.0%, district —, state 3.3%2.0%
This schoolDistrictCalifornia
ShowHide attendance by student group and by grade
Chronic absenteeism by grade band
Grades 4–622.0%
Grades 7–832.7%
Grades 9–1240.5%
TK/K56.3%
2024–25

Where graduates go

Context — never part of the Scope Score

The people teaching · CDE staffing 2024–25

About 7 students for every teacher here.

Context — never part of the Scope Score

Students per teacher7 · district 23
Teaching staff59 teachers
Avg. experience13.1 years
Fully credentialed71%
First-year teachers2%
Intern / emergency permit3.4%
PrincipalChris Romanosky
ShowHide what the district pays
Teacher salary schedule$52,803 – $136,867
Principal salary$176,650 – $176,650
Superintendent salary$336,600

Pay is set by the district, not the school.

What gets spent · FY 2019–20

It spends $143,241 per student, more than the California average.

Context — never part of the Scope Score

$4,584 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.

Per-pupil spendingPer-pupil spending: $143,241, CA average $14,491$143,241 · spent at this school
Federal share$4,584 per student
This schoolDistrictCalifornia
Where the district's dollars go · FY 2024–25 · CDE SACS
Instruction 26%Instruction support 46%Student services 8%Administration 14%Buildings & maintenance 5%

District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.

ShowHide the district's spending year by year
district detail, 2016–2020 — the newest published
2020$70,768 per pupil
2019$67,286 per pupil
2018$61,708 per pupil
2017$32,576 per pupil
2016$30,374 per pupil

Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →

Who is enrolled

Two in five of students here qualify for free or reduced lunch, versus three in five statewide.

Context — never part of the Scope Score

Worth knowing

At 331 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California high school (≈1450).

Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.

On the state's science test (CAST), 0% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 and once in high school, and it never enters the Scope Score.

Hispanic or Latino51.4% · district 48.6% · CA 56.1%
White23.0% · district 22.7% · CA 19.9%
Asian13.0% · district 16.0% · CA 10.2%
Black3.9% · district 2.7% · CA 4.8%
Other8.8% · district 10.0% · CA 9.0%
GenderFemale 30.2% · Male 69.2% · Non-binary 0.6%
Free or reduced lunch47.1% · CA 64%
Nearby schools
State growth model · CDE growth model 2024–25

California's own growth model splits here — the 1st percentile in reading against the 65th in math, among high schools.

Context — never part of the Scope Score

California runs its own growth model — it follows individual children in grades 4 through 8 and compares each one against a prediction from their own prior scores. On that measure this school sits a little below the middle of California high schools in reading, and the 65th in math. We show it; we don't score it.

— pts vs expected is scale-score points above or below what California's model predicted for these same children from their own prior-year scores. It is not a percentage and not a percent of anything. A typical California high school lands at −3 in reading, and the middle half of them fall between −13 and +5 — the spread is wide, so read the rank, not the sign. CDE blends two consecutive years into each published figure, so adjacent years share input data and no year-over-year trend can honestly be drawn from them. It covers grades 4-8 only, and it is not part of the Scope Score — we assessed it and left it out: it tracks school demographics roughly three times as strongly as our own growth measure does, and one published year is not enough to test how stable it is.

California's growth model, ranked against the schools it scores
State model · readingmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, reading: −30 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 1st percentile of 7,519 reported schools.1st pctile · −30 pts
State model · mathmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, math: +6 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 65th percentile of 7,518 reported schools.65th pctile · +6 pts
this school| the tick is the middle of the California field
Every number · For the data nerds

Every number on this page

Everything California reports about this school, shown without a rank — grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, climate, and the nearest schools.

01Score factors (not combined)the dimensions a Scope Score would weigh, shown against California · 2024–25
Score factors
FactorSchoolStateWeight
Graduation rate34.3%92.5%25%
Exceeded standard0.0%19.8%22%
College readiness0.0%43.0%20%
Met or exceeded0.0%43.2%18%
Chronic absenteeism33.5%23.1%5%
Suspension rate2.0%3.3%5%
EL proficiency (ELPAC)8.3%18.0%5%
Graduation rate
vs CA 92.5%
Exceeded standard
vs CA 19.8%
College readiness
vs CA 43.0%
Met or exceeded
vs CA 43.2%
Chronic absenteeism
vs CA 23.1%
Suspension rate
vs CA 3.3%
EL proficiency (ELPAC)
vs CA 18.0%
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ShowHide table 02 — By grade & subgroup
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET+
Grade 3——————
Grade 4——————
Grade 5——————
Grade 6——————
Grade 710—————
Grade 86—————
Grade 11120%0%0%100%0%
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET+
Grade 3——————
Grade 4——————
Grade 5——————
Grade 6——————
Grade 710—————
Grade 86—————
Grade 11120%0%0%100%0%

We show the grade rows CDE publishes for this school. A missing grade or dash can mean the school does not serve that grade, that we hold no valid result for it, or that the tested group was too small to report. It does not mean zero.

Science (CAST)TestedEXCMETNEARNOT
Schoolwide260%0%54%46%

CAST is tested in grades 5 and 8, then once in grade 10, 11, or 12. This row is the school's all-student aggregate. Not part of the Scope Score.

03Nearest high schoolsnearest by distance
SchoolDistEXCMET+Susp
Orange County Special Education ←—0.0%0.0%2.0%
Corona del Mar High2.5 mi32.9%64.4%2.2%
Segerstrom High2.2 mi19.9%46.6%3.5%
Costa Mesa High1.6 mi18.2%42.4%3.9%
California average—19.8%43.2%3.3%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
ShowHide table 04 — More measures
Graduation Rate
34.3%
AP Exam Prepared
Not offered
This school may not offer AP courses
A-G Completion
0.0%
This school may not offer A-G courses
YearExcMet+AbsentSusp
20190.0%11.8%28.4%3.1%
20235.9%11.8%38.2%2.5%
20240.0%8.8%35.6%2.4%
20250.0%0.0%33.5%2.0%
NO STATEWIDE TESTING 2020–21 (COVID)
What we can't show
  • — No Scope Score, performance band, archetype, or state rank publishes for this school — enrollment here is assigned, not chosen, so a comparative rank would mean something different than it does for a neighborhood school. See the Enrollment Axiom at /methodology#peer-class.
  • — No subgroup comparison could be shown for this school this year — either its group sizes fall under CDE's 15-student reporting floor, or district/state comparison data wasn't available for its groups.
05Climate by student groupchronic absenteeism · 2019 vs 2025 — the two years CDE publishes at subgroup level
ShowHide table 05 — Climate by student group
Group20192025
Female37.7%38.0%
Male26.6%35.2%
Asian22.2%20.8%
Black/African American54.5%62.5%
Filipino23.1%—
Hispanic/Latino33.3%42.3%
White23.0%19.8%
Students with Disabilities30.3%35.8%
English Learners40.2%43.4%
Foster Youth21.4%—
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged27.7%40.3%
All Students30.3%35.8%
06Advanced coursework — 2020-21 federal civil-rights snapshotstructural, dated — newest published; biennial
ShowHide table 06 — Advanced coursework — 2020-21 federal civil-rights snapshot
MeasureThis school
AP offeredoffered
AP course count24
AP enrollment1
IB participationnot offered
Dual enrollmentnot offered
Algebra I in grade 8offered · 3 enrolled
Calculus sections0
Physics sections1
Chemistry sections3
Total enrollment (CRDC)404

Shown, never scored — no entry to any composite. NULL/reserve codes render "not reported," never a fabricated zero. The equity block above this table (§4) is the per-subgroup view of this same collection.

07California growth model, by student group2025 · scale-score points vs the state's prediction · shown, never scored
ShowHide table 07 — California growth model, by student group
GroupReadingnCDE bandMathnCDE band
All Students−3019Minimal+619Accelerated
Students with Disabilities−2919Minimal+319Average
English Only−2511not categorised−711not categorised
Hispanic or Latino−3011Minimal+411Average

Whole scale-score points above or below what CDE's model predicted for these same children from their own prior-year scores — not a percentage, not a percentile. Statewide a typical school lands near +1 with a spread of about 13 points either side, so read a figure against its group's own typical value, not against zero. Muted rows have fewer than 30 students with a growth score — published by CDE, held back from the narrative sections above because at that size the figure swings about 17 points on its own. “Not categorised” is CDE assigning no band — English Only, Recently Reclassified, and English Learners Only receive a value and no band, for every school in the state. It is not a missing number. Most figures blend two consecutive years, so adjacent published years share input data and no trend line can honestly be drawn across them. A group absent from this table had fewer than 11 students with a growth score and was never published. Grades 4-8 only. None of this enters the Scope Score — it is more strongly correlated with school demographics than our own growth measure, and one published year is not enough to test its reliability.

EXC = exceeded standard · MET+ = met or exceeded ("proficient") · Source: CA Dept. of Education · CAASPP 2024–25 · Vintages: climate subgroups 2019+2025 · district finance per its label · ACS 2022 · CRDC 2020-21 (biennial; next expected 2021-22) · Data updated 2026-09-27

SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction