Sonoma County Grand Jury
• 2010-2011
doing nothing About eduCAtion is no longer An oPtion the Journey begins with one step
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 19 findings
F1
There are 40 school districts in Sonoma County, one of the highest numbers of districts in any California county.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
With over 70,000 students in 40 school districts, Sonoma County has more school districts per pupil than any other similar county.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
School districts are closing schools. Student population and budgets/revenues have been declining, and are expected to continue to decline in Sonoma County.
No recommendations for this finding
F4
Charter Schools are increasing in number and student enrollment in Sonoma County.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
State funding has decreased in California.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
The graduation rate is in decline, and the dropout rate has increased in Sonoma County High Schools.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Parents are able to take over failing schools (Charter Schools) and/or move their children out of failing schools (Open Enrollment Act, E.C. 48350)
No recommendations for this finding
F8
Certain elected bodies (city and town councils, County Board of Supervisors, governing body of a special district or local agency formation commission with jurisdiction over all, or a portion of, a school district) may request the County Committee on School District Organization (CCSDO) to do a study on unification/consolidation (E.C. #35721 (c)).
Related Recommendations (2)
R2
Every city or town council in Sonoma County should exercise their prerogative per the E.C. 35720-35724 to initiate a CCSDO study of educational and financial benefits that might be achieved for their citizens through consolidation or unification of school districts within their city boundaries.
R3
As per the E.C. 35720-35724, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors should request that the CCSDO initiate a fact finding study for the purpose of determining the educational and financial benefits, if any, of reconfiguring or consolidating school districts within their overlapping jurisdictions within Sonoma County into K12, or other configurations of unified school districts, that would benefit all stakeholders.
F9
The County Superintendent of Schools does not have the authority to initiate a study on consolidation/ unification even if a school district is, or is in danger, of economically failing
Related Recommendations (2)
R1
Every school district in Sonoma County that is not currently a K-12 or basic aid district should request a CCSDO study to determine if educational and/or financial benefits could be achieved through either consolidation or unification.
R7
The County Board of Education and the County Superintendent of Schools should support and work with state legislators to establish a provision in the educational code that would empower the County Superintendent to make his/her own request for district consolidation or unification studies if a school district has filed qualified or negative financial certification for two or more years.
F10
The last study of school district consolidation/unification in Sonoma County was initiated in 2004.
No recommendations for this finding
F11
Articulated curriculum supports consistency in learning experiences from feeder schools to high schools.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools should sponsor twice-annual regional meetings of all school district superintendents to: (a) discuss and implement “best practices”; (b) explore and implement school district cost-sharing programs that would reduce school district duplication; (c) initiate horizontal and vertical articulation of classroom curriculum, in order to meet educational needs, which benefit the students going forward feeding into the high school district; (d) provide for prompt transfer of pupil records among all schools that any student may chose to attend in Sonoma County, especially those students who are entering a secondary school districts.
F12
School Boards of districts in receivership lose financial control (assumed by a trustee appointed by the state) but continue to control those academic decisions that have no financial implications and remain in an advisory capacity.
No recommendations for this finding
F13
As noted in F8 above, CCSDO oversees and approves school district requests for territorial transfer, school board issues and studies for consolidation. They approve all school district consolidations before sending them to the state for approval prior to final public approval by election.
No recommendations for this finding
F14
The County Board of Education is an elected body of seven trustees at present. The CCSDO has the authority to reduce membership to five trustees to realize a cost savings to the citizens of Sonoma County.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
The CCSDO, in an effort to better manage costs, should study the potential savings available by reconfiguring the CBOE trusteeships (currently 7 members) to align with the County Board of Supervisors (currently 5). A new, smaller CBOE would then also reflect current census distribution within the county.
F15
There has only been one contested election for the County Board of Education in the last 10 years.
No recommendations for this finding
F16
Student record transfers from one school district to another are problematic. In some instances it can take up to a year to get records transferred within Sonoma County.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools should sponsor twice-annual regional meetings of all school district superintendents to: (a) discuss and implement “best practices”; (b) explore and implement school district cost-sharing programs that would reduce school district duplication; (c) initiate horizontal and vertical articulation of classroom curriculum, in order to meet educational needs, which benefit the students going forward feeding into the high school district; (d) provide for prompt transfer of pupil records among all schools that any student may chose to attend in Sonoma County, especially those students who are entering a secondary school districts.
F17
Parents can get statistical data for a teacher’s grade level performance from SCOE; however, districts do not disseminate this information routinely.
No recommendations for this finding
F18
A breakdown of the number of schools in the school districts of Sonoma County is as follows: 12 districts 1 school 6 districts 2 schools 4 districts 3 schools 5 districts 4 schools 3 districts 5 schools 2 districts 6 schools 8 districts have between 8 and 19 schools 31 Additional information can be found in the attached Appendix.
No recommendations for this finding
F19
Some Sonoma County school districts are failing financially (Schedule of 2010 - 2011 Financial Reporting in the attached Appendix).
Related Recommendations (3)
R5
All CCSDO studies should include the statutory elements required by the state educational code and: (a) an evaluation of an articulated K-12 curriculum, (b) the economic benefits of Special Education, transportation, administrative services, (c) board members’ health and welfare benefits, and (d) stipend savings through elimination of duplicate services.
R8
The Sonoma County Board of Education should conduct a study of SCOE to determine the possible costs and savings of fewer school districts to manage Sonoma County Schools, and where those costs/savings, if any, could be applied to better the education of students.
R9
All 40 Districts in Sonoma County shall respond to the following questions, as summary of which will be published by the Grand Jury: a. After hearing public comments and by a majority vote of the Board of Directors we ___invite or _____ decline to cooperate with a SCOE funded study to discover whether there could be benefits to both educational and financial costs in district consolidation. 32 b. Current 2010/2011 enrollment is ________. Enrollment for 2009/2010 was _________. c. We are currently a K-12 unified school district? ____ yes, or ____no. If not our current structure is: _______ ___________________________________________. d. We ____are or ___ not currently classified as a Basic Aid District. As a Basic id District we derive the following financial benefit: ___________________________ e. We currently have enrolled ________students living outside district boundaries. Five years ago there were _________ students living outside district boundaries. f. We currently have _____ students living inside district boundaries who have chosen to attend schools in other districts. How many such students were there in the 2005/2006 school year_____? g. There are currently _____dependent and________ independent charter schools operating within our district. Five years ago there were _____ dependent and _______independent charter schools in our district. h. We currently have developed effective protocols with all surrounding districts to insure complete and timely access to student records transferring in or out of our district ___yes ___no. i. We currently _____have or _____ have not implemented coordinated plans to insure articulation and basic curriculum compatibility with those districts most likely to receive our students and from whom we are likely to receive students. j. We currently _____have or _____ do not have Joint Power Agreements (JPAS), or similar significant shared cost saving plans with neighboring districts. REQUIRED RESPONSES TO RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINDINGS From the following school districts: To R1, R9 and to Findings F3, F5, F7, F11, F16, F17, and F19: Alexander Valley Union Montgomery Elementary Bellevue Union Oak Grove Union Bennett Valley Union Old Adobe Union Cinnabar Petaluma City Elementary Cloverdale Unified Petaluma Joint Union High Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified Piner-Olivet Union Dunham Rincon Valley Union Forestville Union Roseland Fort Ross Santa Rosa City Elementary Geyserville Unified Santa Rosa City High Gravenstein Union Sebastopol Union Guerneville Sonoma Valley Unified Harmony Union Twin Hills Union Healdsburg Unified Two Rock Union Horicon Waugh Kashia West Side Union Kenwood West Sonoma County High Liberty Wilmar Union Mark West Union Windsor Unified Monte Rio Union Wright From the City or Town Councils of Cotati, Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma and Windsor to: R2 and F8. From the County Superintendent of Schools to: R4 and R7, F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F9, F11, F12, F17 and
Agency Responses 1
Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.