6. Neighborhoods at Risk from Toxins

Recommendations 11

• R1

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  The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors should formally identify the Los Angeles County Office of Education as the lead organization responsible to implement and maintain the California School Dashboard within the County.
• R2

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  The Los Angeles County Office of Education should form a task force to focus on the local indicators to include within the Dashboard. This task force should include representatives from those Unified School Districts (USD’s) known to be implementing leading edge programs and those with exceptional student performance, local educational experts knowledgeable in state and County operations, and educational advocates who are knowledgeable and focused on open communications. 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 49
• R3

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  The Los Angeles County Office of Education should develop an ‘Experience Map’ that identifies recommended types of engagement activity, and include performance in the local indicators. For example, all 4th graders study California history. A school would obtain a top rating for 4th grade history if they visit a California mission.
• R4

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  The Los Angeles County Office of Education should actively monitor the Dashboard with the following goals; inform USD’s, educators, and parents of best practices within the County, and implement a community of practice to share successes. This forum should promote the exchange of information and practices and enable each USD to determine those best practices which can be brought into their own district to improve student learning.
• R5

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  The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors should aid teachers in acquiring real-world experiences by instructing all County departments to make a certain number of compensated internships (summer position or long-term sabbatical) available to teachers within the County. For example: Department of Public Health could offer positions associated with environmental science; Department of Child and Family Services could offer positions associated with sociology and psychology; and Department of Public Works could offer positions in engineering.
• R6

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  The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors should provide teachers working within the County free access to all County museums to encourage their attendance and enable them to share their experiences with their students, and/or help them arrange potential field trips.
• R7

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  The Los Angeles County Office of Education should foster collaborative relationships with industry partners and County agencies to encourage establishment of internships for students and teachers and announce openings on their website or publish links.
• R8

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  The Los Angeles County Office of Education should, in coordination with the Department of Consumer & Business Affairs, inform the USD’s about Life Smarts program and encourage them to bring the course to their campuses. This is a course that could be offered either after school, on the weekends, or during the summer break.
• R9

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  The Los Angeles County Office of Education should investigate the establishment of a formal community of volunteers who could provide life-skills education (including teaching the Life Smarts program) and mentoring of students, similar to the services offered to small businesses by the Service Corps of Retired Executives.
• R10

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  The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors should request a prioritized listing of projects under the five categories of funding available under Proposition 51 from the USD’s, with new facilities or any modifications or upgrades focused on enhancing learning.
• R11

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  The Los Angeles County Office of Education should identify various ways to monetize school property to support implementation of changes as described in this report. For example, renting out parking lots and play fields for events like farmers markets or renting auditoriums for local events. Revenues from these rental activities should be specifically earmarked for implementing educational improvement projects. 50 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT VI REQUIRED RESPONSES California Penal Code Sections 933(c) and 933.05 require a written response to all recommendations contained in this report. Such responses shall be made no later than ninety (90) days after the Civil Grand Jury publishes its report (files it with the Clerk of the Court). Responses shall be made in accord with Penal Code Sections 933.05 (a) and (b). All responses to the recommendations of the 2016-2017 Civil Grand Jury must be submitted on or before September 30, 2017, to: Presiding Judge Los Angeles County Superior Court Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center 210 West Temple Street Eleventh Floor – Room 11-506 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Responses are required from: Responding Agency Recommendations County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors 4.1, 4.5, 4.6, 4.10 Los Angeles County Office of Education 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.11 VII ACRONYMS CGJ 2016-2017 Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury CSULB California State University, Long Beach LBCC Long Beach City College LBUSD Long Beach Unified School District UCLA University of California, Los Angeles USD Unified School District VIII COMMITTEE MEMBERS Gloria Garfinkel Co-Chair Thomas Kearney Co-Chair Hilda Dallal Marilyn Gelfand 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 51 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 52 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT POLLING PLACE HOST FACILITIES Alice Beener Chair Dorothy Brown Patrick Lyons POLLING PLACE HOST FACILITIES I SUMMARY Polling place facilities help our neighborhoods; businesses and residences that host a polling place provide a very valuable service to our communities. Members of the 2016-2017 Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury (CGJ) discovered polling place hosts earn $25.00 for the use of their home or business; this amount has not increased in over 30 years. II BACKGROUND To volunteer your residence or business as a polling place the facility must have:  A minimum square footage of 400 square feet (20 feet x 20 feet)  Sufficient parking  Access ramps and handicap parking  An enclosed area with adequate lighting and heating  One to two tables with four to six chairs  An electric outlet for the Precinct Ballot Reader  A location available between the hours of 6:00 am to 9:30 pm Each facility must also provide heating, electricity, and restroom facilities for poll workers.1 On February 23, 2017 two CGJ members went to the office of the County of Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (the Registrar) and met with staff responsible for supervising poll workers. The staff did extensive research of Los Angeles County ordinances and state statutes. They could not find any documentation relevant to required payments to polling place hosts. On October 24, 2006 the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) reviewed and approved the CGJ’s October 17, 2006 request to increase the daily stipend for both Civil and Criminal Grand Juries. In addition to supporting the stipend increase, the CAO also acknowledged the need to undertake a systemic review of all the County’s stipend-based organizations. This was done to ensure that an effective process is in place to address future requests for adjustments to the amount or frequency of stipends. 2 1 http://lavote.net/home/voting-elections/pollworker/polling-place-information 2 County of Los Angeles Chief Administrative Office memo, Approval of Ordinance Change Authorizing Increase to Civil and Criminal Grand Jury Daily Reimbursement Allowance, dated January 30, 2007 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 53 III METHODOLOGY  Two Civil Grand Jury members conducted a telephone interview with a staff member at the Registrar’s office.  On February 23, 2017 two Civil Grand Jury members went to the Registrar’s office in Norwalk.  On April 21, 2017 VGJ members had a telephone interview with upper management of the San Francisco Department of Elections. IV FINDINGS