Finding 3.6: Muni employees claim that safety standards have been relaxed in order to meet operating

Recommendations 4

• R1

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  Provide the Bayview Hunters Point District With Neighborhood Schools SFUSD should provide the Bayview Hunters Point district with neighborhood schools commensurate to its population of eligible local students. Response Arlene Ackerman Superintendent of Schools San Francisco Unified School District August 30, 2004 This recommendation does not acknowledge the existence of the SFUSD student assignment system mandated by Consent Decree, which provides students with the right to select schools from any neighborhood within the District. Therefore, students are not limited to available seats in the schools within their own neighborhood. This student assignment system may only be changed by agreement of the parties or by an order of the Court. Currently, there is adequate capacity within the schools in BVHP for students who opt to attend those schools. The SFUSD Master Facilities Plan provides objective criteria for planning educational facilities to meet the changing needs of the community, and to provide options in allocating facility resources to achieve the district’s goals and objectives. The Master Plan includes a capacity study for the District, and included the following conclusion: “The 10-year enrollment projections, in 135 conjunction with the Capacity Study, forecast excess capacity at San Francisco Unified School District’s school facilities of nearly 7,600 seats, or more than 12%, on a district-wide basis for the time frame addressed in this Master Plan.” As of August 25, 2004, there remained 363 open spaces across all grades in K-12 schools located in the 94124 zip code area. Only 6 of the 35 grades offered in the 94124 zip code area are at capacity. However, in order to maximize the quality of the schools located within the BVHP area, SFUSD has initiated the Dream Schools Initiative, and has participated in the STAR Intervention Program and the Secondary School Redesign Initiative. Dream Schools The first three Dream Schools are all located in Bayview/Hunters Point. These schools will provide a pre-kindergarten to grade 12 continuum housed on three campuses: Charles Drew, Twenty-First Century, and Gloria R. Davis. The pre-kindergarten to third grade campus at Charles Drew will be focused on early learning and literacy. The fourth to sixth grade campus at Twenty-first Century will focus on academic development in the upper elementary and middle grades, and the seventh to 12th grade campus at Gloria R. Davis will be focused on academic attainment and college and career preparation. These Dream Schools will be based in part on the Frederick Douglass Academy in Central Harlem, New York started by Dr. Lorraine Monroe. Each of the Dream Schools will incorporate seven core components: (1) Academic Achievement, (2) Varied Learning Opportunities, (3) Parent Empowerment and Support, (4) Alternate Learning Models, (5) College Connections, (6) Career Preparation, and (7) Safe and Friendly Learning Environments. In particular, each of these Dream Schools will provide additional assistance and resources to students and parents to improve academic achievement and transform previously under- performing schools into models for other schools in the District. For example, these Dream Schools will use a longer school day, which will run approximately from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and will incorporate after-school tutoring and enrichment programs to help students who need mentoring in particular areas and to provide different kinds of learning experiences to students and families who might not otherwise have them. A wide range of extracurricular activities – including several kinds of dance, drama, employment development, chorus, and sports – will be offered to students attending these Dream Schools at all grade levels. In addition, these Dream Schools will offer various personal development programs, including through partnerships with community organizations such as the Career Resource Development Center, Enterprise for High School Students, Job Corps, and others, to assist students with career and college planning. These Dream Schools will provide students experiential learning opportunities as well – such as internships, job shadowing, and other off-site programs. Each of these Dream Schools also will provide additional resources and activities to encourage parental involvement and build parents’ capacity to support student learning. For example, the pre-kindergarten curriculum at Charles Drew will be delivered through home visits and group 136 meetings that facilitate parent education and development. Parents will be trained by means of sample activities and role-playing, and will be paid to deliver services to other parents through weekly home visits or group meetings. In addition, these schools will offer Saturday sessions that will include family programs that emphasize parental empowerment to permit parents to participate actively in their child’s education. Parents at these Dream Schools may also be able to participate in General Educational Development (“GED”) test preparation, computer training, job skills and employment search skills programs. Faculty members and other administrators at these Dream Schools will be held to the highest standards. For example, all faculty members will be required to participate in designated development activities, including the “Dream School Institute” and an intensive academic professional development training program. Each faculty member also will be expected to sponsor or supervise an after-school activity, communicate with parents extensively, including through at least two parent conferences per year, and participate in schoolwide and community activities. STAR Intervention Program The central goal of the STAR Intervention Program is to increase student achievement at currently underperforming schools. SFUSD provides three categories of targeted interventions – site personnel, District support, and additional resources – to improve student achievement. Each school in the STAR program receives additional site personnel, including an instructional reform facilitator, parent liaison, and volunteer tutors/mentors, to support instructional improvement. In addition, the STAR program provides additional resources to establish new parent centers at each school, transportation services to increase the accessibility of after-school programs, and extended learning packets for distribution to parents and families. Several BVHP schools have participated in the STAR Initiative, including schools such as Charles Drew Elementary, 21st Century Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary, Malcolm X Elementary, Gloria R. Davis Middle School, Martin Luther King Middle School, and Thurgood Marshall Academic High School. Secondary School Resdesign Initiative Finally, Gloria R. Davis has been selected to be part of the Secondary School Redesign Initiative next year, which utilizes funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in order to provide small, personalized learning communities, rigorous academic curriculum, opportunities for applied learning, and access to qualified teachers. Arlene Ackerman Superintendent of Schools San Francisco Unified School District June 30, 2005 As noted in the District’s original response, the recommendation does not acknowledge the existence of the SFUSD student assignment system mandated by Consent Decree, which provides students with the right to select schools from any neighborhood within the District. Therefore, students are not limited to available seats in the schools within their own neighborhood. This student assignment system may only be changed by agreement of the parties or by an order of the Court. Currently, there is adequate capacity within the schools in BVHP for students who opt to attend those schools. The District continues to be subject to the Consent Decree. The District continues to provide additional support and resources to the Bayview Hunters Point community through the provision of Dream Schools, the STAR Initiative and the Secondary 137 School Redesign Initiative, as described in the original response. Despite severe budget limitations, the District has offered summer school for all elementary students in BVHP Dream Schools, while elementary schools in the rest of the city only had the option to provide summer school for the 5th grade.
• R2

  Page 148
  Build Additional Schools in the Bayview Hunters Point District. SFUSD and the Redevelopment Agency should forge a plan to build additional schools in the Bayview Hunters Point region in order to address projected needs arising from development of new housing. Responses Marcia Rosen Executive Director San Francisco Redevelopment Agency August 25, 2004 The Agency acknowledges that a key point being made in Recommendation 2 of the Report is the need for the Agency to work more closely with the SFUSD as the implementation of the Hunters Point Shipyard Redevelopment Plan moves closer to realization. The Agency, however, does not believe additional schools will be required as a result of housing to be developed on Parcel A and Parcel B of the Shipyard. The Agency has recently commissioned a fiscal and economic impact analysis with San Francisco-based Seifel Consulting Inc. (“SCI”) for Phase I of the Shipyard. The report is currently in draft form and is being reviewed by Agency staff. The study includes an analysis of the SFUSD’s June 2003 Facilities Master Plan. The SFUSD projections assume that new housing will be built at Hunters Point Shipyard, including 360 affordable housing units. As the proposed number of affordable housing units is different than projected in 2002 by SFUSD, SCI consulted with SFUSD regarding how to project student enrollment from the Shipyard based on the latest Phase I development projections. At the direction of Myong Leigh, Chief of Policy and Planning for SFUSD, SCI utilized the same methodology described in the 2002 SFUSD demographic forecast to project SFUSD student enrollment from Phase I. Based on this methodology, the SFUSD student generation is projected to be greater from the affordable, non-age restricted, housing units than the market rate housing units. Approximately 288 students are projected to be generated by the 411 affordable housing units that are not restricted to occupancy by age, based on the SFUSD forecast of 0.7 students per 140 affordable housing unit. No SFUSD students are projected from the 102 age-restricted, senior affordable housing units. SFUSD does not make a separate effort to estimate the student generation from market rate housing, since a regular level of enrollment growth from new housing is already included in the historical student grade progression. To account for the total impact from Phase I, the student yield from market rate housing units is projected based on the citywide student yield rate of 0.19 students per housing unit according to SFUSD forecasts. Thus, approximately 206 SFUSD students are projected from the 1087 market rate units. At the build-out of Phase I, 494 SFUSD students are projected from Phase I, or an average yield of 0.31 students per housing unit. The Agency relies on SFUSD’s experience and expertise in assessing the capacity of its facilities and notes that the draft SCI report also states: San Francisco public school enrollment has been steady over the past two decades, but declines in the elementary level have been observed during the past few years and are anticipated to continue as the number of births continues to drop in the city. By 2011, total public school enrollment is projected to decrease by between 9 and 13 percent from its current enrollment of 60,900. Thus, the anticipated 494 students from Phase I development at the Shipyard will not trigger a need for new school facilities. Arlene Ackerman Superintendent of Schools San Francisco Unified School District August 30, 2004 The SFUSD Master Facilities Plan provides objective criteria for planning educational facilities to meet the changing needs of the community, and to provide options in allocating facility resources to achieve the district’s goals and objectives. The Master Plan includes a capacity study for the District, and included the following conclusion: “The 10-year enrollment projections, in conjunction with the Capacity Study, forecast excess capacity at San Francisco Unified School District’s school facilities of nearly 7,600 seats, or more than 12%, on a district-wide basis for the time frame addressed in this Master Plan.” SFUSD will cooperate with the Redevelopment Agency in order to remain informed about its plans for development and its impact on District schools. As of August 25, 2004, there remained 363 open spaces across all grades in K-12 schools located in the 94124 zip code area. Only 6 of the 35 grades offered in the 94124 zip code area are at capacity. Marcia Rosen Executive Director San Francisco Redevelopment Agency June 22, 2005 In 2004, the Agency hired Seifel Consulting Inc. (“SCI”) to conduct a fiscal and economic impact analysis for Phase I of the Shipyard. Included in the study is an analysis of the SFUSD’s June 2003 Facilities Master Plan. Additionally, SCI consulted with SFUSD regarding how to project student enrollment for the Phase I development at the Shipyard. Based upon SCI’s analysis, approximately 494 SFUSD students are projected from Phase I. Additionally, by the year 2011, total public school enrollment in the SFUSD is projected to decrease by between 9 and 13 percent from its current enrollment of 60,900. Based on the aforementioned facts and data, SFUSD has not determined that additional schools will be required as a result of housing to be developed during Phase I of the Shipyard. If in the future, SFUSD determines that additional schools are necessary in the Bayview Hunters Point region as a result of future development at the Shipyard, the Agency will cooperate with the school district to address the need for additional educational facilities. Arlene Ackerman Superintendent of Schools San Francisco Unified School District June 30, 2005 As noted in the District’s original response, the Master Facilities Plan did not identify a short- term need to develop new schools. Moreover, the Redevelopment Agency’s economic impact analysis similarly did not project a short term need for new schools based on the development of the Hunters Point Shipyard. Finally, the Consent Decree includes a plan for Bayview Hunters Point, and therefore the issue of opening new schools would have to be vetted with the parties to the lawsuit and be approved by the federal Court. However, the District will cooperate with the Redevelopment Agency in order to remain informed about its mid and long term plans for development and the impact on District schools, and will continually re-evaluate the need for new schools based on changing circumstances in the District.
• R3a

  Page 129
  Establish a Program to Record and Analyze All Incidents and Accidents MUNI should establish a program to record and analyze the causes of all incidents/accidents. The system would categorize each incident/accident by type, operator, transit line, division, claims and/or settlement costs and whether avoidable or unavoidable. The system should be designed to prevent multiple accident entries. The data should be readily available so that it can be used to establish procedures to reduce claims and their associated costs. Response Cleopatra Vaughns Chair Board of Directors Municipal Transportation Agency Michael T. Burns Executive Director of Transportation Municipal Transportation Agency August 25, 2004 Implemented. Muni has already done so. 121
• R3b

  Page 130
  Evaluate the Effectiveness of Its Training Program. MUNI should evaluate the effectiveness of the current training program with an emphasis on accident prevention. Response Cleopatra Vaughns Chair Board of Directors Municipal Transportation Agency Michael T. Burns Executive Director of Transportation Municipal Transportation Agency August 25, 2004 Implemented. This is done on an ongoing basis. The Executive Director of the MTA reviews all accidents/incidents daily and meets weekly to review employee accident records and retraining steps taken. General Responses Adele Destro Assistant Clerk of the Board Board of Supervisors August 12, 2004 The following is a report on the 2003-2004 Civil Grand Jury Report regarding the Municipal Transportation Agency in accordance with Penal Code Section 933 and Administrative Code Section 2.10. The Board of Supervisors’ City Services Committee held a hearing today on the Civil Grand Jury Report, On-Time Performance and Service Goals Remain a Fiction: MUNI’s Mismanagement and Worker Problems. Representatives from the Civil Grand Jury addressed their findings and recommendations, and the Municipal Transportation Agency addressed certain disagreements with the Civil Grand Jury Report. Per Michael Burns, Executive Director, Municipal Transportation Agency, a formal written response to the Civil Grand Jury will be submitted within the required deadlines. Cleopatra Vaughns Chair Board of Directors Municipal Transportation Agency August 23, 2004 On behalf of the Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors, I am responding to a Civil Grand Jury report released in June 2004. We fully concur with the response to the recommendations and findings as provided to you by the Executive Director of Transportation. While the report appears to have taken a superficial look at three areas, we wish to focus on comments made by the Civil Grand Jury relative to management performance, in particular, the claim that the organization lacks leadership. We take exception to the claim that a strong leadership presence is non-existent. The remarkable turn around of this Agency over the past five years is proof positive of the strong leadership provided by Mr. Burns and his leadership team. Prior to Mr. Burns’ arrival, Muni was in a serious condition, having experienced over a decade of systematic defunding, a demoralized staff and factions throughout the organization who were working contrary to the best interests of the organization. Since his arrival in 1999: • Muni has had five consecutive years of balanced budgets. • Muni has initiated major construction projects, such as the Third Street Light Rail Project and the Ocean Avenue Reconstruction Project. • Muni has completed many projects on time and within budget, such as the Ocean Avenue Reconstruction project. • There has been continuous improvement in service, from 48% on-time performance to 71.5% today. • Muni has received public acknowledgement, on many occasions, for providing reliable service to major events. Most notably the opening of SBC Park and the World Series. • Muni has passed every California Highway Patrol inspection and has had positive audits by the California Public Utilities Commission, Federal Transit Administration, and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. 123 • Muni has a Mission, Vision, Values statement that reflects the deep commitment of its employees to provide a transit agency that is internationally recognized for excellence. Mr. Burns has had to make many difficult decisions over the past few years but none so difficult as raising Muni fares for the first time in eleven years and in light of a continued economic downturn, the unpleasant task of laying off employees. Mr. Bums has earned national recognition and many accolades from the public sector and has received numerous national, regional and state awards including: The Metropolitan Transportation Commission Grand Award in 2002; California Transportation Foundation “Tranny” Award for Top Manager in 2003 and the Clean Air Champion Award from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in 2002. The report also alleges that Mr. Bums and his staff have no plans to achieve an 85% on-time performance delivery. Mr. Bums and the MTA Board have had numerous discussions regarding staff s efforts and strategic plans to attain the goal of 85% on-time performance. Those plans have been presented and discussed with the MTA Board of Directors at meetings, which are open to the public. We are disappointed that the Civil Grand Jury concluded that no plans exist when a quick review of our meeting minutes, readily available on Muni’s website, provides evidence to the contrary. The MTA Board of Directors and the City and County of San Francisco are proud to have an experienced, effective, and nationally recognized leader at the helm of the Municipal Transportation Agency. We find that this report is in no way an accurate reflection of the Agency nor it's leadership. Michael T. Burns Executive Director of Transportation Municipal Transportation Agency August 25, 2004 Attached are the responses to the June 2004 Civil Grand Jury Report as required by California Penal Code Sections 933 and 933.05. In addition to my responses to their recommendations and