conservatorship of the person

I am not sure how to respond to this "finding." Recommendation number one simply asks us to continue doing something that we are already doing. Recommendation number one states that the district should continue to keep on top of its policies and procedures, adding to and modifying them as necessary. Approximately every three months the school Board adopts, revises, and reviews school district policies (as noted by SVUSD Board meeting minutes). I find this "finding" to be arbitrary in nature as it is an act that the school district has been doing every three months since unification six years ago. If there is a problem or issue that needs to be addressed (as noted in the paragraph under the Findings and Recommendations section of the report) we are more than happy to address it. Otherwise, I find it hard to understand how we can fix something that is not broken.

Once again, I find it hard to understand why finding number two is an issue. The fact that . none of the SVUSD Board members have teaching or school administrative experience is ~IJ\} couflfJr inconsequential. Each and every one of our Board members meets the legal criteria for §~ Board membership. At the current time there are no laws in place stating that school ,"'"'T " 4' -p; ~ ~ l/lisrRA\G1-s Board members have teaching or administrative experience. On a personal note ... I believe the fact that not one of our Board members has "educational experience" provides them the opportunity to provide us with a "fresh perspective" on educational matters and issues. Once again, I fail to see why finding number two is presented as a finding.

Finding number three, once again, in my opinion, is capricious in nature. The finding simply states that the District must be constantly aware of where funds are and where they are not. The District employs a highly trained and capable Chief Business Official that spends eight to twelve hours a day working on financial matters and keeping me "aware of where funds are and where they are not." I, along with my CBO and the Board are constantly aware of the educational funding (or lack of funding) and expenses of the district. The district and school sites have done an excellent job (as noted by our financial records) working through the statewide "fiscal crisis" by providing top-notch educational opportunities for our students (as noted by our school's high API scores).

Recommendation number four requests that the District track all students in the community to assure they receive the education necessary for success in adulthood. SVUSD does an excellent job of tracking students that remain in the community. SVUSD has very few truancy problems due to the fact that students who show signs of truancy are referred to our District Advisory Committee (DAC) and/or our local School Attendance Review Board (SARB). The DAC and the SARB work closely with truant students and their parents/guardians to ensure that student truancy issues are resolved. However, when students move out of the school district it is impossible to track their academic performance and educational paths. Furthermore, there are no processes, procedures, or mandates in place that enable and/or require California school districts to perform such tasks.

Finding number five seems to be more of a complaint against a "cross section" of parents in our community. Whether or not these facts are true I don't believe the school district has any jurisdiction and/or recourse against parents that choose to raise their children with values that are contradictory to the mission of the school system. Furthermore, reporting that 90% of Etna High School students drink and smoke marijuana (oftentimes at school) is not only offensive to our staff and community members, it is, in my opinion, extremely irresponsible to publish it as fact. I can't conceive any rational person believing this statement to be factual. My only wish is that you had spoken to the principal and counselor at Etna High School because they are two "community experts" whose opinions on this matter would have been accurate and without error.

Recommendation number six requests that all critical school and district personnel should become familiar with the CISD and CISM procedures. Unfortunately, the Grand Jury did not speak to the most "critical personnel" about CISD and CISM procedures and training. The district superintendent and the district's head counselor (along with two principals) have been trained in and are familiar. with the CISD and CISM procedures. In the event that a traumatic event takes place in one of our schools the superintendent (with the assistance of the district head counselor and principals) is responsible for orchestrating any and all critical incident stress management procedures and debriefings. It is my belief that finding number six is unfounded. I appreciate the fact that the Grand Jury spent time and energy investigating SVUSD and that the narrative portion of the report was, for the most part, accurate. However, I must respectfully disagree with all six of the findings brought by the Grand Jury. Sgince,re lty, r ~ Dr. Bryan L. Caples District Superintendent Scott Valley Unified School District October 17, 2013 Siskiyou County Administration Attention: Becky Sloan P.O. Box 750 Yreka, CA 96097 RE: Scott Valley Unified School District Watchdog Report by 2012-2013 Siskiyou County Civil Grand Jury Dear Civil Grand Jury, County Administrator, Board of Supervisor's and County Counsel; On behalf of the Scott Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees and pursuant to the requirements of California Penal Code Section 933C, I have enclosed our required responses to the 2012-2013 Final Report of the Siskiyou County Civil Grand Jury. We have carefully reviewed the Grand Jury's findings, and recommendations in accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 933 and have enclosed our responses within. Respectfully submitted, f!h~., tJflwi,y; Charnna Gilmore Scott Valley Unified School District Board of Trustee, Board President Cc: Dr. Bryan Caples, Superintendent, Scott Valley Unified School District Debbie Miller, Principal, Etna Elementary School, Fort Jones Elementary School Allen Carver, Principal, Scott Valley Jr. High, Scott Valley Community Day School Bruce Bishop, Principal, Etna High School, Scott River High School Kermith Walters, County Superintendent, Siskiyou County Office of Education Jennifer Thackeray, Scott Valley Unified School District, Board of Trustee Christine Hullquist, Scott Valley Unified School District, Board of Trustee Tammi Bennett, Scott Valley Unified School District, Board of Trustee Scott Pynes, Scott Valley Unified School District, Board of Trustee 11918 Main Street, Fort Jones CA 96032 530.468.2727 www.svusd.us