Santa Clara County Grand Jury
• 2009-2010
David H.yama~ Chief Executive Officer. Superior Court ofCACounty 'Clara by n Ai nvl"lll Angie M. Cardoza, Foreperson
⚠️ 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.
Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F2, F4
Findings and Recommendations 4 findings
F1
Per the Districts' current CBAs,internal applicants are given priority over external applicants who may be better qualified for the job. CLASSIFIEDand CERTIFICATED:The Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) disagrees with the finding. While internal candidates may be considered, competition between internal and external candidates isconcurrent to identify the best qualified individual.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Each Board should revisit this subject infuture CBAnegotiations to ensure that competency isthe determinant factor in the job candidate selection process. CLASSIFIEDAND CERTIFICATED:The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted. Competency isalready the determining factor in the SCCOEjob candidate selection process.
F3
Twenty-two of the 32 districts have policies covering the hiring of employees and Board member relatives. CLASSIFIEDand CERTIFICATED:The Santa Clara County Office of Education agrees with the finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
All Boards should formulate and implement policies covering the hiring of relatives, including the disclosure of anyfamilial relationships to the Board, to avoid the appearance of bias orfavoritism in the recruitment andjob assignment processes. CLASSIFIEDAND CERTIFICATED:The recommendation has been implemented (but not by the County Board). The Santa Clara County Office of Education hasan existing policy in place that addresses the hiring of employees and Board member relatives.
F5
Eighteen Districts (including the Santa ClaraCounty Office of Education) allow the Superintendent to override the policy of not permitting relatives to be placed indirect reporting relationships to current employees on a case-by-case basis. The Santa Clara County Office of Education agrees with this finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Boards should adopt a policy of reviewing allSuperintendent decisions that override the policy that pertains to the placement of related employees indirect reporting positions. The recommendation will not be implemented because it isnot warranted, asit does not apply to the Santa Clara County Office of Education. Forclarification, the County Superintendent of Schools isthe employer. The County Board of Education has no statutory authority over personnel and related matters. Response to Grand Jury Report p. 2of3
F6
Fourteen of the 32Districts are aware of and/or document the number and names of related employees. TheSanta ClaraCounty Office of Education does not document this information. The Santa Clara County Office of Education agrees with this finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
The Boards of the Districts listed in Finding 6(including the Santa ClaraCounty Office of Education) should implement apolicy of identifying familial relationships and tracking such data. The recommendation will not be implemented because it isnot reasonable, due to budgetary and staffing constraints aswell ascompeting programmatic needs; and because the definition of afamilial relationship asstated bythe Grand Jury istoo broad and would make the policy unmanageable given the sizeof the County Office of Education.
Additional Recommendations 2
These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.
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R2All districts should consider adopting interview practices like PAUSDwhich provide opportunities for applicants to demonstrate their teaching skills. CLASSIFIED:Recommendation 2 does not apply to classified position openings. Response to Grand Jury Report p.l of3 CERTIFICATED:The recommendation has been implemented. Teachers who apply and interview for a position in the SCCOEAlternative Education Program are required to teach amodel lesson. The successofthat lesson isused asasignificant criterion in the hiring decision. SCCOEwill examine the possibility of implementing the same process in the hiring of special education teachers.
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R7All Boards should implement measures to identify familial relationships during the hiring process. (For clarification, the County Superintendent of Schools isthe employer for both certificated and classified staff. The County Board of Education does not have statutory authorization over personnel.) The recommendation will be implemented in the future. The Santa Clara County Office of Education will amend the existing classified and certificated online applications to require job applicants to identify family members and list familial relationships. The online application will be revised of this response. Response to Grand Jury Report p.3of 3
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.