Score: -24 (0/2/24)

Sacramento County Grand Jury • 2010-2011

Twin Rivers Unified School District Lack of Trust + Lost Opportunities = Children’s Loss

Published: September 30, 2011 25 pages

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⚠️ 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 14 findings

0 Measure B promised the voters the new district would have a streamlined administration and the cost savings would allow for more dollars for students in the classrooms. When compared to other large school districts in Sacramento County, the grand jury has found Twin Rivers has a higher number of administrators.

Related Recommendations (1)

1 Twin Rivers must immediately reduce the number and expense of top level administrators and put the savings into classrooms.

0 Measure B promised the voters the district would have an articulated pre K– 12 curriculum. After three years, some curriculum has been aligned using existing materials from the four districts and is fragmented at best, with little or no social studies or science being taught in elementary schools.

Related Recommendations (1)

1 Twin Rivers must immediately develop, fund and implement a comprehensive pre K–12 articulated curriculum plan for all core subjects, including social studies and science.

0 The decision to hire a superintendent without unification experience, without secondary school leadership experience and without construction management experience has impeded the unification goals of Twin Rivers.

Related Recommendations (1)

1 Prior to the contract expiration of the present superintendent, a nationwide search should be conducted for a superintendent with the qualifications that include experience in unification, secondary school leadership and construction management.

0 The history of unification attempts and testimony to the grand jury clearly shows animosity and negativity towards the former Grant district and its employees.

Related Recommendations (1)

1 The Twin Rivers Board and superintendent must take responsibility for creating a more diverse group of key personnel from all four of the unifying districts, including Grant.

0 The Board of Trustees has acquired additional property for its district office, in the form of a 99 year lease and at a cost of $14M, despite the availability of existing district property.

Related Recommendations (1)

1 The Board of Trustees must better utilize existing buildings, and be more judicious in the spending of scarce district funds.

0 The Board of Trustees voted to stop the ENEC project resulting in approximately a $60M closure cost. 72 -2011

Related Recommendations (1)

1 Twin Rivers must immediately develop and implement a short and long term plan for the use of ENEC, as well as a timeline and budget for the project.

0 As of April 1, 2011, the storage and insurance costs for some building materials is $132,000 and continues at $3,000 per month. The security and utility bill for the closed ENEC project is $12,500 per month. This does not include unknown amounts for storage costs of building materials in Texas.

Related Recommendations (1)

1 The Board of Trustees should be informed of the ongoing storage costs and must immediately work to resolve this financial drain on the district.

0 After almost three years as a unified school district, the district has not merged equipment inventories nor has it completed a physical inventory of the four unifying districts.

Related Recommendations (1)

1 The district must immediately complete a comprehensive physical inventory and merge equipment inventories from the four unifying districts.

0 In the opinion of the grand jury, the use of outside counsel hired by the Twin Rivers Board of Trustees has consumed too much general fund money.

Related Recommendations (1)

1 The Board of Trustees must analyze and evaluate the costs of using outside counsel in comparison to the cost of hiring in-house legal staff.

F10

0 Twin Rivers Board of Trustees’ decision to file four lawsuits against former Grant district personnel and companies that have done business with the Grant district, led to the spending of nearly $1M of general fund money to date.

Related Recommendations (1)

R10

1 The Board of Trustees must conduct a monthly review of the status and costs of each lawsuit involving Twin Rivers.

F11

0 The Sacramento County Grand Jury questions whether it is illegal or, at best, ill-advised for Fund 24 bond money to be used in the litigation against a party that is not engaged in construction projects. Twin Rivers Unified School District: Lack of Trust + Lost Opportunities = Children’s Loss 73

Related Recommendations (1)

R11

1 The Board of Trustees must stop using Fund 24 bond money as a source of funds for Twin Rivers v. CFS, et al.

F12

0 According to witness testimony to the grand jury, geographic and ethnic communities are not being adequately represented by board members who are elected at large by the entire district.

Related Recommendations (1)

R12

1 A more equitable election process would provide that the trustees be elected directly from their individual districts rather than at large.

F13

0 Many sixth grade students transitioning to middle school have not been afforded the opportunity to select from the various middle school options, because the district office has limited the invitations to special programs.

Related Recommendations (1)

R13

1 The Board of Trustees, using a wide variety of strategies and resources, must insure that parents of all students are made aware of all programs offered to students by the district, including those programs offered by dependent charter schools.

F14

0 Some community members from various ethnic groups do not believe they are respected by the Board of Trustees and the Twin Rivers Superintendent. These community members have stated that the needs and concerns they have repeatedly expressed continue to be disregarded.

Related Recommendations (1)

R14

1 The Board of Trustees and the Twin Rivers Superintendent should engage in active listening and consistent responsive communications, and encourage the involvement of all members of the Twin Rivers communities.

Agency Responses 1

Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.

Twin Rivers Unified School District

September 07, 2011 • 152 pages • 28 responses • Score: -24 (+0, 2, -24) View Details ▾

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28 responses to findings and recommendations

Response: Disagree Score: -1

0 We disagree with this finding. Twin Rivers has cut administration to achieve savings of about $10 million annually. Twin Rivers has kept the promise of a streamlined administration and the goal of unification. We made significant administrative reductions since unifying four separate districts. From 131 managers employed in November 2007 down to 67 in Twin Rivers in July 2011, our administrators are working hard to keep programs running smoothly and provide the very best opportunities for our students. In total, we reduced more than 50% of our administrative positions for a savings of about ...

1 Twin Rivers must immediately reduce the number and expense of top level administrators and put the savings into classrooms.

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation is not warranted. As evidenced in the graphic titled, "Twin Rivers USD Reductions in Administration" under finding 1.0, our district has already made dramatic reductions in administration. In addition to the $10 million in savings we have realized in administrative reductions, we piloted a budgeting system that allows us to push more of the resources that were previously centrally managed out to school site leaders. In return, school site staff collaboratively set goals for their campus and have more flexibility with funds as long as the goals are met. The new budgeting s...

Response: Disagree Score: -1

0 We disagree with the finding. Twin Rivers students are provided with standardsbased, California Department of Education (CDE) adopted science and social studies instruction. In addition, many of the science and social studies content standards are addressed during English Language Arts (ELA) instruction as advised by the CDE: "In recognition that a substantial portion of the instructional day must be devoted to language arts instruction, educators and publishers of instructional materials should address the history-social science and science content standards simultaneously with the language...

1 Twin Rivers must immediately develop, fund and implement a comprehensive pre K–12 articulated curriculum plan for all core subjects, including social studies and science.

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation is not warranted as evidenced by math and science highlights in the

Response: Disagree Score: -1

0 We disagree with this finding. In fact, the current Superintendent met unification goals to improve educational opportunities, streamline administration, and manage district finances in a way that is responsible to taxpayers. We improved graduation rates, academic scores, and educational programs. We cut administration by nearly half, and our district is the only large Sacramento area district with a positive budget. These results are clear evidence that the selection of Frank Porter to lead Twin Rivers Unified as its first Superintendent directly contributed to the great success for student...

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation is based on a finding that is inaccurate and will not be implemented as stated. The recommendation appears to call for the removal of our current Superintendent. The selection of a school district Superintendent is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees that are elected representatives of the local communities. This Board unanimously voted to hire the current Superintendent and has provided positive performance reviews. The Grand Jury report has provided no evidence to indicate that immediately replacing the Superintendent would improve the district's ability to impr...

0 The history of unification attempts and testimony to the grand jury clearly shows animosity and negativity towards the former Grant district and its employees.

Response: Disagree Score: -1

0 We disagree with this finding because it is based on misperception. Unfortunately, there is a six decade history of acrimony between various communities that prevented our district from unifying until 2008. The unfortunate downturn in State funding which occurred at the same time as unification, forced our district to make painful cuts. At times, community members misunderstood the necessity of difficult budget choices and assigned negative motivations to cutbacks and position changes. The responsible fiscal actions of our current board resulted in a district that is one of few that can cont...

1 The Twin Rivers Board and superintendent must take responsibility for creating a more diverse group of key personnel from all four of the unifying districts, including Grant.

Response: Implemented

Score: 0

1 This recommendation was implemented from the start of our district with a personnel approach that includes looking at current employees and outside professionals to obtain the most qualified individual for a given position. It is important to remember that many of the top administrators from the former Grant Joint Union High School District (GJUHSD) resigned prior to Twin Rivers becoming a district on July 1, 2008. The remaining leadership employees from all four of the predecessor districts provided invaluable service over the past three years to get our new district up and running and to e...

0 The Board of Trustees has acquired additional property for its district office, in the form of a 99 year lease and at a cost of $14M, despite the availability of existing district property.

Response: Disagree Score: -1

0 We disagree with this finding because it is based on misleading information. Although $20 million was originally set aside for a newly constructed administrative building under a previous plan with the former GJUHSD, Twin Rivers spent approximately $14 million to refurbish an existing warehouse at McClellan Park instead of building new. This is a savings of about $6 million. We purchased the building through a lease/purchase agreement. The district makes no monthly payments for the building or the land. The land is currently owned by the US Air Force until their cleanup of the soil is comple...

1 The Board of Trustees must better utilize existing buildings, and be more judicious in the spending of scarce district funds.

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation is not warranted. From the start of Twin Rivers USD, our administration, Board of Trustees, and community budget advisory committees have overseen the use of funds and building projects. In fact, additional community advisory groups met more than 40 times over the past two years to provide guidance and input on the process of consolidating campuses. As a Building Trust and Delivering Results for Students and Families Twin Rivers Response to the 2010-2011 Grand Jury Report September 6, 2011 Page 17 of 33 result, we continue to reinvent these campuses to provide valuable c...

0 The Board of Trustees voted to stop the ENEC project resulting in approximately a $60M closure cost. 72 -2011

Response: Disagree Score: -1

0 We disagree with this finding. It confuses the construction and closure costs of the <b>ENEC</b> project. The $60 million in resources spent on the construction of the East Natomas project is regrettable but was not initiated by the Twin Rivers Board. Despite repeated concerns expressed by Twin Rivers USD and the Sacramento County Office of Education, the project was accelerated during the period of time in which Twin Rivers had no legal authority to oversee it. The GJUHSD chose to accelerate the plan for a new, as yet un-needed building while depriving the remaining secondary schools of lon...

1 Twin Rivers must immediately develop and implement a short and long term plan for the use of ENEC, as well as a timeline and budget for the project.

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation is not warranted. The Twin Rivers Board adopted a plan for ENEC in 2009. In the short term, the building is secure and under surveillance. Future phases of the project will begin when we establish the need for additional facilities and additional resources become available. Finding 7.0 As of April 1, 2011, the storage and insurance costs for some building materials is $132,000 and continues at $3,000 per month. The security and utility bill for the closed ENEC project is $12,500 per month. This does not include unknown amounts for storage costs of building materials in ...

Response: Disagree Score: -1

0 We disagree with this finding. It is based on inaccurate information and fails to take into consideration the costs with the proposed alternative of keeping the project going without the necessary funding and student enrollment. Building Trust and Delivering Results for Students and Families Twin Rivers Response to the 2010-2011 Grand Jury Report September 6, 2011 Page 19 of 33 The costs associated with storing building materials were included in the settlement with McCarthy Building Companies. The settlement agreement includes the suppliers of these building materials. Twin Rivers is not i...

1 The Board of Trustees should be informed of the ongoing storage costs and must immediately work to resolve this financial drain on the district.

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation will not be implemented as it is not necessary. All building material issues were resolved in the settlement agreement with McCarthy in May 2011 and we anticipate no further financial impact to Twin Rivers. Finding 8.0 After almost three years as a unified school district, the district has not merged equipment inventories nor has it completed a physical inventory of the four unifying districts.

0 After almost three years as a unified school district, the district has not merged equipment inventories nor has it completed a physical inventory of the four unifying districts.

Response: Disagree Partially Score: 0

0 We partially disagree with this finding and appreciate the opportunity to clarify the issue. Twin Rivers has consistently worked toward accomplishing a complete physical Building Trust and Delivering Results for Students and Families Twin Rivers Response to the 2010-2011 Grand Jury Report September 6, 2011 Page 20 of 33 inventory. It is important to note that none of the former districts had a complete inventory at the date of unification. The Sacramento County Office of Education directed the unifying districts to provide inventories to Twin Rivers prior to the first Board meeting, but unf...

1 The district must immediately complete a comprehensive physical inventory and merge equipment inventories from the four unifying districts.

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation is not warranted. Twin Rivers purchased an asset tracking software program in 2009 and is nearing completion of a complete audit of baseline inventory. It is important to note that during the school year, our staff focused on meeting the immediate needs of schools. Because the former districts did not come into unification with a complete physical inventory, it has been an enormous undertaking to go to each of the 50 schools to verify assets. Twin Rivers has completed fixed asset inventories at the following sites: Norwood Elementary North Avenue Elementary Larchmont Elem...

0 In the opinion of the grand jury, the use of outside counsel hired by the Twin Rivers Board of Trustees has consumed too much general fund money.

Response: Disagree Score: -1

0 We disagree with this finding because it fails to account for the costs of failing to protect general fund resources if legal action had not been taken. Much of the past legal costs have stemmed from the particular circumstances surrounding unification and from inherited litigation from the predecessor districts. The process of unification requires negotiating multiple independent employment contracts into new contracts while following applicable personnel and educational laws for every employee group. As of last spring, we consolidated all of our employment contracts into new Twin Rivers co...

1 The Board of Trustees must analyze and evaluate the costs of using outside counsel in comparison to the cost of hiring in-house legal staff.

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation is not warranted. The Board has analyzed the costs and benefits of using outside and in-house counsel for our district. The issue of choosing in-house as contrasted with the selection of outside counsel is a multi-faceted decision. The Board made this policy decision after evaluating many potential costs and benefits. For example, in most districts where there is an in-house counsel, there is also the added costs of legal support staff and the need to hire outside counsel specialists for individual cases and issues. The Board has a process of cost analysis for legal servi...

F10

Response: Unknown Score: 0

0 This finding is unwarranted. Our district leadership is genuinely unhappy that we were placed in the circumstance of having to litigate to protect our general fund. Following unification, Twin Rivers learned that certain persons and entities illegally obtained public school property, including computer equipment and information vital to ongoing legal matters. We made substantial efforts to obtain the return of the public property and related information files prior to any lawsuit being initiated. Unfortunately, most of the former Board members and employees involved refused these requests. T...

R10

1 The Board of Trustees must conduct a monthly review of the status and costs of each lawsuit involving Twin Rivers.

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation is not warranted. Trustees are briefed on an ongoing basis as legal milestones and decision points are reached. The administration has a thorough process for review of litigation fees and costs and regularly reviews such matters with counsel and the Board of Trustees in closed sessions of board meetings. We make substantial efforts to evaluate and limit legal expense, including the 5% reduction from the current outside legal counsel mentioned under finding 10.1. Now that the unification transition period is winding down due to unified employment contracts and adopted pr...

F11

Response: Unknown Score: 0

0 The Grand Jury made no finding of fact in this statement. There is no clear, nor substantial, legal authority which supports this position or concern under California law. Building Trust and Delivering Results for Students and Families Twin Rivers Response to the 2010-2011 Grand Jury Report September 6, 2011 Page 27 of 33 Recommendation 11.1 The Board of Trustees must stop using Fund 24 bond money as a source for funds for Twin Rivers. v. CFS, et al.

R11

1 The Board of Trustees must stop using Fund 24 bond money as a source of funds for Twin Rivers v. CFS, et al.

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation will not be implemented as it is neither required nor reasonable in this circumstance. The Twin Rivers v. CFS lawsuit is directly related to the recovery of bond and other funds as a result of the improper conduct of CFS as alleged in that case. The lawsuit would not have been required but for the conduct of CFS related to the financing and commencement of construction and improvements. Further, it is the intent of Twin Rivers that Measure G/Fund 24 funds expended in prosecuting the Twin Rivers v. CFS lawsuit will be refunded to Fund 24 out of the recoveries received in t...

F12

0 According to witness testimony to the grand jury, geographic and ethnic communities are not being adequately represented by board members who are elected at large by the entire district.

Response: Disagree Score: -1

0 We disagree with this finding because Twin Rivers hybrid election approach, similar to the process in place at Elk Grove Unified School District, ensures that there is geographic representation on our Board while Trustees are responsible to all students and families. As discussions for unification developed, research conducted on the best way to elect the board of trustees. There are a number of pros and cons for the by-district and the at-large processes of election. Everyone knew it would be a challenge to bring all of the diverse north area communities together and we needed a system that...

R12

1 A more equitable election process would provide that the trustees be elected directly from their individual districts rather than at large.

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation will not be implemented at this time. The current election system provides a balance of neighborhood representation and the ability to think broadly and ensure the best outcomes for students. While the by-district approach is easier for potential candidates because they do not have to concern themselves with engaging all of the communities in our district in order to be elected, it does not yield the best results for students. When all members of the board are accountable to all families and voters, it is easier for the board to make decisions that are in the best long-te...

F13

Response: Disagree Score: -1

0 We disagree with this finding. There is no evidence to suggest this is an accurate statement. Twin Rivers is very proud of the turn-around in enrollment that has taken place over the past three years. Part of this turn around has happened through our liberal transfer policy within our district schools and each school working hard to market their programs and recruit new students. If a family is not satisfied with their neighborhood school, they meet with district staff who provide them with other options within our district in the hope that they will stay in Twin Rivers. In the specific case...

R13

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation is not warranted. Our district strongly encourages all schools, including dependent charters, to widely market their programs to grow district enrollment. One of the goals of our Board and Superintendent has been to turn-around the longstanding trend of students leaving our district schools. We have strongly emphasized Building Trust and Delivering Results for Students and Families Twin Rivers Response to the 2010-2011 Grand Jury Report September 6, 2011 Page 30 of 33 with our school staff the importance of listening to families, providing great customer service, and mar...

F14

Response: Disagree Score: -1

0 Building Trust and Delivering Results for Students and Families Twin Rivers Response to the 2010-2011 Grand Jury Report September 6, 2011 Page 31 of 33 While some in the community may feel their requests have not been met, we disagree with the finding that they haven't had an opportunity to provide input or that their concerns have been disregarded. Our district leadership is committed to listening to a wide variety of stakeholder groups and has provided a variety of ways to provide feedback as is evidenced in the list of activities in Appendix B - Ongoing Employee, Community, Family, and S...

R14

Response: Will Not Implement

Score: -1

1 This recommendation is not warranted. From the beginning of the Twin Rivers USD, we have operated under the belief that students benefit enormously when our families and community are involved in our schools and classrooms. We believe we have and continue to make substantial efforts to listen, engage and communicate with our communities. Twin Rivers provides a wide variety of opportunities to understand district issues, provide feedback, and get involved at the classroom and district levels. For example, we provide regular electronic newsletter updates, web site news and calendar items, auto...

No Responses Found 1

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

Sacramento County Office of Education Agency