SAN DIEGO -- While school districts are scrambling for money in the face of looming budget cuts and job losses, the 10News I-Team finds thousands of dollars sitting idle.

Economic times are tough for districts across San Diego County. In San Diego City Schools alone, 200 teachers and one thousand support staff such as janitors and custodians face possible layoffs.

Administrators across the various districts say they're looking for money everywhere they can.

"Absolutely every dollar counts," points out Camille Zombro. She is President of the San Diego Education Foundation, the teachers' union.

But 10News finds that not every dollar is being counted. The 10News I-Team uncovered thousands of dollars owed to 22 local school districts, money the districts have not collected in some cases for over five years.

"I think it is financial irresponsibility," says Diane Hill. She tipped off the I-Team to the issue. She routinely checks the State Controller's unclaimed property Web site to see if the name of anyone she knows pops up.

"I had a cousin and they got the money," She says, "I currently have an aunt on there."

The Web site details assets being held by the State of California, until the rightful owners come forward. The unclaimed property can include dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, refunds from venders, dividends, insurance payments, even legal settlements.

"I typed in the San Diego Unified School District and was very surprised they have numerous accounts that they have not collected the funds on," adds Hill.

She is a former instructional aide, laid off during the last budget crunch in 2004. She wanted to see how carefully the district is watching all of its dollars.

San Diego Unified is owed $22,000 by various companies, including Xerox, Ikon Office Solutions, and the Manchester Grand Hyatt. One item alone was worth $18,000, money owed since 2003.

"These amounts are what I've heard district administrators refer to as ‘budget dust,' but … they are budget dust that add up to half a teacher," Zombro explains.

In fact, that $18,000 alone would’ve more than paid Diane Hill’s annual salary.

San Diego Unified is not alone. The I-Team checked all the local school districts and found 22 are owed money, adding up to more than $88,000. That includes $2900 to Poway Unified, $3,300 for Coronado, $7,800 owed to Sweetwater Union High School District, and $40,000 for the San Ysidro School District.

Even though the amounts make up only a small fraction of the districts’ budgets, Union President Zombro says this is an example of lax oversight by administrators.

"Pockets of money like that, when you start to add them up from a lot of places, they do add up to a lot of money," she says.

The State does not make it easy to get the money back. Unclaimed money goes into the State’s general fund. In fact, the state is holding roughly $5 billion dollars of unclaimed money. Claims by the rightful owner can take six months to process, before the money is repaid.

The money is owed to companies and individuals, ranging from Hollywood stars to CEOs and baseball legends. By the time the unclaimed property shows up on the State Controller’s Web site, it’s been sitting idle somewhere for three to 7 years.

In the case of the school districts, sometimes the money is actually owed to an employee who no longer works there, and couldn’t be located by the company. This is especially true for insurance payments.

But for other items, such as refunds, overpayments, and accounts payable listed on the Web site for the Districts, Diane Hill says, "I think they should keep better track of our taxpayer dollars."

10News contacted all of the school districts for a response. Read those responses on our Web site, and check out the interactive map which shows which districts are owed, and how much.