Placer County Grand Jury • 2017-2018

2017-2018_complete_final_report*

Published: June 20, 2018 131 pages Consolidated Report
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Findings 14 findings

F1
As of this writing, the county has no stated plans to determine a formula for in-lieu fee, or abolish it. The building of affordable housing units on the Dewitt Center stems from a commitment
F2
the county made when Auburn's Bell Garden Apartments were torn down, resulting in the displacing of the residents. -2018 Final Report Conclusion The County has taken positive steps to address the issue of affordable housing. We believe further actions are necessary.
F3
PCSO currently attaches written requests considered to be valid CPRA requests to the case file; and
F4
There is no method for tracking phone requests. Conclusion Two requests that were sent to the Placer County Sheriff's Office were not properly processed in accordance with the CPRA. There is no tracking system in place countywide indicating requests have been received. All requests, whether or not determined to be a valid CPRA request, should be tracked and responded to under the guidelines of the CPRA. If it is determined not to be a valid CPRA request, communication must be made with the requester to assist in making a proper request. -2018 Final Report
F5
Through Fiscal Year 2017-2018 there has been no consistent method of prioritizing the capital improvements for funding. -2018 Final Report Conclusion The Grand Jury believes the current process of transferring funds is justifiable and transparent. The addition of the outside consultant and the software program should increase efficiency and provide objectivity to the funding process for future capital improvements. The Grand Jury commends the CEO for their approach to developing a method of prioritizing the funding of capital improvements by use of the survey.
F6
responses. Lessons learned from the drills and responses are only debriefed verbally among districts. District superintendents leave it up to their principals to decide what that school's budget
F7
priorities are (books, athletic equipment, safety equipment, supplies for an extended shelter-in-place due to a disaster threatening the local school area, etc.) -2018 Final Report
F8
One school had snacks and water stored in each classroom in case there was an extended lockdown or shelter-in-place for the school if there was a nearby natural disaster. In addition, it also had an inexpensive backpack in each classroom to carry these items outside, along with other safety items such as a flashlight, radio, etc., if needed.
F9
Substitute teachers get inconsistent information about responding to various emergencies. a. They are at a disadvantage moving between districts because of lack of standardization of emergency plans. b. They must have their own cellphones to be notified in case of emergency while they are on the school campus. Due to the age of some schools, upgrading facilities to improve safety, such as doors
F10
that lock from the inside and reinforced glass, are large budget items which have to be prioritized with other needs at each school. While not state-mandated, PCOE initiated quarterly safety meetings, inviting all districts
F11
to attend. There is not a single, standardized emergency communication system used across the
F12
three reviewed school districts.
F13
Open campuses cannot account for students who leave the campus for lunch.
F14
The reviewed schools do work with their local first responders (fire, police, EMTs) and include them in emergency planning and training. However, there was no consistent training found for such potential disasters as train derailments, wildfires, and HAZMAT release. Conclusion By its nature, Placer County oversight is spread among various organizations responsible for emergency management systems, i.e., Office of Emergency Services, law enforcement agencies, CalFire, the impacted school district, etc. This decentralization may be detrimental in the event of a large scale incident that may last several days or impact several schools in one area. This is due to different terminology among responding agencies, different definitions of response kits, different communication systems, and different emergency response checklists. The SEMS checklist standardizes many of the above noted differences into a shared template. All involved parties will then have a common reference of the key items needed to remain focused to safeguard lives and property as the incident unfolds and eventually stabilizes. -2018 Final Report SEMS checklist also helps those individuals who fulfill unexpected roles during the emergency as to what to do, when, and how. Implementing the recommendations below would strengthen Placer County's response to a multi-jurisdictional incident, i.e., train derailment, HAZMAT release, or wildfire affecting schools. The dedication and knowledge of everyone interviewed who are responsible for keeping Placer County's children safe is inspiring. "Thank You" for the work you do every day with our future leaders/citizens.

Recommendations 12

Conclusions 11

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.