Alameda County Grand Jury
2004-2005
Findings & Recommendations
5 findings
F1:
The Alameda County Board of Education’s agendas do not fully inform the public of the substance of the issues coming before the board. In some cases, the agenda was actually misleading as to the substance.
F2:
The board’s minutes do not provide information on the substance of controversial issues. The public can see from the minutes that an item passed or failed and who voted for and against it, but not the nature of the controversy.
F3:
The county office of education’s line-item budget does not provide the public with useful information on the activities of the office and the cost of those activities.
F4:
Holding board meetings in different locations in the county, instead of always at the board’s office in Hayward, would be beneficial to residents who have a stronger interest in some agenda items than others and could engender greater public participation.
F5:
Despite Grand Jury recommendations in the past, there continues to be a degree of incivility during board meetings. 40 2004-2005 Alameda County Civil Grand Jury Final Report ________________________________________________________________________
Findings & Recommendations
14 findings
F2:
Absence of communication to educational community.
F3:
Lack of interagency cooperation.
F4:
Failure to recognize year-to-year trends.
F5:
Flawed Average Daily Attendance (ADA) projections.
F6:
Failure to maintain reserves.
F7:
Insufficient consideration of long-term bargaining agreement effects.
F8:
Flawed multi-year projections.
F9:
Inaccurate revenue and expenditure estimations.
F10:
Poor cash flow analysis and reconciliation.
F11:
Bargaining agreements beyond state COLA.
F12:
No integration of position control with payroll.
F13:
Limited access to timely personnel, payroll, and budget control date and reports.
F14:
Escalating general fund encroachment.
F15:
Lack of regular monitoring. 34 2004-2005 Alameda County Civil Grand Jury Final Report ________________________________________________________________________