By CLAUDIA MELÉNDEZ SALINAS, The Herald -
In the final installment of the grand jury report, which was issued by segments throughout the year, the group provided an extensive overview of the services that can be found at the Monterey County Office of Education, but found no flaws with it.
"The (County Grand Jury) found all six of the MCOE's service departments well organized, efficient, and working diligently to provide support, guidance, training and resources for all members of Monterey County," the report reads in its conclusions.
"I found it very complimentary," said Harvey Kuffner, chairman of the Monterey County Board of Education. "I found (two) findings to be specially complimentary concerning activities that have taken place."
The civil grand jury issued its 2012 report in seven installments. The first one looked at the county's voting procedures, which grand jurors deemed "safe." The 19-panel member also criticized a Marina elected official just before the November election for acting too much like a staff member.
In subsequent, interim reports, the grand jury described the overtime at the Monterey County Sheriff's Department as excessive; examined the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority, Carmel Area Wastewater District and progress on medical trauma care in the county. In total, the grand jury issued six interim reports and a final one that included investigations about MCOE, detention facilities, and six south Monterey County school districts.
The final installment also looked at conditions in the county jail and Juvenile Hall.
Noting the chronic overcrowding at the jail — designed for 824 inmates but usually housing more than 1,100 — the grand jury recommended that the Sheriff's Office and Probation Department pressure county judges to hand down more "split" sentences, which combine jail time with rehabilitative programs.
A recent study found the county fell far behind most of California when it comes to adopting the blended terms that have been recommended by statewide association of probation chiefs.
After The Herald reported that pre-trial bail amounts in Monterey County are higher than in neighboring Santa Cruz County, the grand jury also recommended that the bail schedule for defendants awaiting trial for non-serious, non-sexual, non-violent crimes be revisited.
In the eleven-page portion about MCOE — which reads like a catalog for the organization — the grand jury lists the services available to the 24 school districts that operate within Monterey County. The services are grouped in seven areas: "pillars of success," administration services, educational services, finance and business services, human resources, migrant education, and special education.
After listing all the services that MCOE facilitates, the report broadly concludes that "the marked improvement in Monterey County schools these past five years can be attributed to the MCOE's high expectations for closing achievement gaps."
This and other findings could also be attributed to other educational oversight organizations, such as the California Department of Education and the school districts themselves.
Although closing the achievement gap is a federal and state mandate, one that every school district, principal and teacher takes seriously, Kuffner said he believed it was fair to attribute improvement in the county to MCOE.
"MCOE played a part in it, we sent out teams of our staff to help with particularly low achieving schools," he said.
The report also describes MCOE's solar energy project as "the first of its kind in Monterey County." But the solar power generation facility at CSU Monterey Bay, which opened two years before MCOE's, is three times as large. CSUMB power plant generates 16 percent of the university's energy consumption, which is also a savings for the taxpayers, like MCOE's project.
Also in the same report, the civil grand jury examined the workings of six of the smallest school districts in south Monterey County - Bradley, of 73 students; Chualar, with 334 students; San Antonio, 179 students; San Ardo, 102; San Lucas, 65; Mission, 26. Some operate in remote areas of the county, which would make consolidation difficult, the report concludes.
Among their biggest flaws, the grand jury found, are neglected facilities in some schools, defective phone systems and sometimes faulty websites.
Three of the districts are high achievers: Bradley, San Antonio, and Mission. The report concludes low performance could be attributed to many children belonging to "limited-English proficiency families who spend long hours in the agricultural fields and have less time to devote to their children and their education."
The grand jury recommended all districts to continue seeking funds to spruce up their buildings, the San Lucas district to try to re-open their pre-school program and to establish a tutoring program for low-achieving students.
For San Ardo, the grand jury recommended the administration install a fully functioning phone answering system, and to provide training for their board members "to assist in better coordination and an understanding of board activities"
Agencies have 90 days from the time the final report is issued to respond to the grand jury findings.
Nicole Hester, superintendent/principal of the San Lucas School, said the district never had Head Start - it was migrant education that ran the program, but it was eliminated due to budget cuts.
"We would love to have a preschool program," she said.
The report was not surprising to Hester, who has worked for the district for more than two years, the last two as three as administrator.
"I think generally (the grand jurors) were impressed with small South County school districts," Hester said. "Their original plan was to come to get to know this area and familiarize themselves with it."
Herald staff writer Julia Reynolds contributed to this story.
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