RICHMOND -- West Contra Costa schools trustees Wednesday approved a response to a civil grand jury report critical of the district's treatment of a citizen committee overseeing the school construction bond program as well as management of the program itself.
The report, entitled "Bond Program & Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee, A Case Study in Stymied Oversight," lambasted the district over a number of issues, including allowing trustees to appoint CBOC members and the large number of members (19) serving on the committee.
It also criticized the district for failing to post committee meeting materials on its website, maintaining complete control of the site, providing the committee with inaccurate financial information, not providing financial training for members and other issues.
The report went further in criticizing the district's management of the bond program, saying that costs per square foot for new schools has been three times the state average, that the bond money is running out long before all the schools that need to be replaced or rebuilt have been completed, and that too high a percentage of spending has gone to managers and architects rather than for the construction itself.
Allegations about bond program mismanagement parallel issues raised in a report by district employee Dennis Clay that has motivated a separate forensic audit of the program that is about to get underway.
The response to the report formulated by Superintendent Bruce Harter and Associate Superintendent for Facilities Lisa LeBlanc says that many of the practices in regard to the committee have already been improved.
LeBlanc said West Contra Costa has made a commitment to providing timely financial reports to the committee, providing necessary training for new members and improving committee members' access to the website.
The district is also looking at reducing the size of the committee to make decision-making less unwieldy and adjusting how members are appointed, she said.
The response went on to address criticisms of bond program management, including the report's conclusion that property owners within the district pay 291 percent of the state average in school bond assessments
Harter said districts such as West Contra Costa with lower assessed valuations of property have to pay taxes at a higher rate than wealthier districts for the same amount and quality of construction.
"We do have a higher tax rate, but we have stayed within the tax rate limits approved by the voters," Harter said.
Trustee Val Cuevas responded by saying that "We have to be good stewards of the public's money because the higher tax rates hit this community that much harder."
Harter addressed the issue of overspending on projects by saying that the board has set standards for amenities in new schools that have included parent rooms, community kitchens, community health clinics and larger multipurpose rooms.
"What does the board see about these standards," he asked. "Is it time to change them?"
In the response, Harter wrote that about $202 million of the approximately $1.6 billion in borrowing approved by the voters in the six bond measures is still uncommitted.
The district has written a facilities master plan to determine how that money and any funds raised through future bond elections will be spent, he wrote.
Bond program critic Ben Steinberg, the lone speaker during public comment, said the response to the grand jury report "opens as many questions as it answers," and indicated he is waiting for the results of the forensic audit instead.
September 3, 2015
Contra Costa Times
By Rick Radin Correspondent
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