Siskiyou County Grand Jury • 2026-2027

2026 - The Siskiyou County Office of Education and the Siskiyou County Board of Education Fails Its Most Vulnerable Students

Published: June 25, 2026 19 pages
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Findings 13 findings

F1
The Siskiyou County Board of Education did not conduct documented performance evaluations prior to approving compensation increases for the County Superintendent of Schools, contrary to its oversight responsibilities under the California Constitution Article IX, Section 3.1(b) and California Education Code section 1209.
F2
Siskiyou County Office of Education (SCOE) administration staffed Special Day Classes with non-credential or under-credentialed personnel in violation of California Education Code, Title 5, Section 3053 requirements for special education teacher accreditation. After reviewing all the documents and interviews, the Civil Grand Jury uncovered during its investigation that approximately 12 SCOE special education teachers, only three to four, are fully credentialed for their current assignments. This comes to an average of 180 students for each credentialed teacher.
F3
Siskiyou County Office of Education failed to ensure that Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) were completed and implemented within timelines required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the California Education Code 56000.
F4
School psychologists did not consistently attend IEP meetings as required by IDEA and California Education Code 34 CFR Section 300.321 and IEPs were written in some instances by staff not authorized to do so under law. 10
F5
Physical conditions in Special Day Class facilities, including the presence of mold at multiple identified sites, pose health and safety risks to students with disabilities and school staff. Students and staff remained in mold-affected classrooms for extended periods of time before relocation.
F6
Special Day Class students were not provided with equitable access to school campus library resources, instead, requiring them to access off-campus public library facilities.
F7
Siskiyou County Office of Education's Human Resources department did not consistently investigate or act upon employee complaints of workplace hostility and retaliation, creating conditions possibly creating toxic and hostile working conditions.
F8
Siskiyou County Office of Education did not maintain adequate documentation confirming that classroom supply stipends were distributed to credentialed teachers as required by California Code, Education Code-EDC Section 49011.
F9
Siskiyou County Office of Education employees were placed in administrative positions without holding required administrative credentials, a practice that had the effect of impacting their prior bargaining unit membership and undermined collective bargaining rights. 12
F10
Siskiyou County Office of Education voluntarily relinquished its Workability Partnership Program (WA1) slot, a fully federally funded vocational training program serving approximately 400 to 450 students with IEPs, without documented SCBE Board of Trustee authorization or student- impact analysis, thereby eliminating a federally supported transition-to-work program for students with disabilities which is inconsistent with 34 Code of Federal Regulations Section 300.43.
F11
School District teaching staff are routinely advised that budgets are insufficient for classroom needs.
F12
The Superintendent at SCOE appointed a SELPA Director who was identified by multiple credible sources as lacking adequate depth of special education expertise and who was selected contrary to the 13
F13
Special Day Classes (SDC) classrooms are equipped with locking devices on classroom and bathroom doors that enable the confinement of students with disabilities in bathroom spaces, a practice inconsistent with California Education Code Section 49005 et seq. and IDEA provisions governing restraint as well as fire codes.

Recommendations 1