Grand Jury Urges Probe of Schools

Oakland Tribune, Dec. 30, 1957

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Full Investigation of Finances, Administration by County Dept., Asked in Final Report of 1957

The Alameda County Grand Jury today called for a full-scale investigation into financial operations of the County School Department and recommended drastic changes in its administration.

In their final report for 1957, filed with Superior Judge S. Victor Wagler, the jurors urged an audit of the school department's accounting methods and procedures, and said the investigation should also delve into the administration and supervision of school operations.

The jury recommended that the county superintendent of schools should be appointed by the elected County Board of Education instead of being elected himself.

In an obvious reaction to the controversy between School Supt. Vaughn D. Seidel and County Administrator Earl Strathman over Seidel's operation of school classes at Juvenile Hall, the grand jury recommended that the Board of Supervisors contract with an adjacent school district to provide instruction there.

FINANCIAL ITEMS

Among the financial items suggested for inquiry are the School Department's budgeting procedures, particularly their accuracy and completeness, according to the final report.

Details of the jury's preliminary investigation into the school question were not included in the report. A companion audit has been made, however, the findings said.

The jurors also suggested that in the future the grand jury's audit of School Department funds should become the official school audit.

In other references to education in Alameda County the report specified:

"It is felt that the educational training at Juvenile Hall should be improved to operate within the scope of the penal purposes of the institution; that is morre emphasis should be placed on arts, crafts, shop and homemaking"

STUDY PROPOSED

The jurors also urged that the grand jurors of 1958 undertake a study aimed at revisiting the high school course of study for those students who do not intend to go on to college.

These students many times need more incentive so that they will not drop out or lose interest in school," the report added.

Nine other key recommendations made by, the 18 men and women who ended their nine-month tenure with the 15-page report:

1—There is an urgent need for remedial legislation at the federal, state and county levels to curtail the trend toward further liberalization of welfare payments... and to prevent fraudulent claims.

2—The 1958 grand jury should conduct an audit of the recently state-ordered medical care program for relief recipients to prevent "improper burdens on the taxpayer."

3—The speed limit on the Eastshore Freeway should be reduced from 55 to 40 miles an hour in Oakland, San Leandro and Hayward.

INVESTMENT PROGRAM

4—The county treasurer should get "capable outside consultation" and make a painstaking review of the investment program to ascertain if, more county funds should not be invested in interest-bearing securities.

5—The county should overhaul its entire bookkeeping system and inaugurate one system for all departments.

6—An Investigation should be made to determine if the county should become self-insured like the City of Oakland, instead of buying liability insurance.

7—"Several thousand dollars of tax money" could be saved by abandoning the county's tuberculosis sanitarium at Arroyo del Valle and transferring the patients to Fairmont Hospital.

8—More probation officers should be assigned to Santa Rita to supervise juveniles housed there until the California Youth Authority can expand its facilities to relieve the county of this burden. The CYA should get busy on this program, too.

RUSSELL CITY PROBLEM

9—The Russell City area, long considered by juries as the county's top slum problem, should be zoned for industry. The Russell City Community Service District should be dissolved and form housing code should be adopted for the unincorporated area of the county.

In other sections of the report the jurors recommended that the Board of Supervisors consider the wisdom and possible economy of having a single all-inclusive grand jury audit rather than having several district audits.

The supervisors were criticized by the jurors for failing to study the accounts receivable of the veterans' memorial buildings of the county which are under their control.

"Proper charges for these buildings are not being made," the report said.

The jurors also recommended that the supervisors abandon their "pay as you go" policy insofar as capital expenditure projects are concerned. This would expedite the county's building program, the report said.

INACTIVE ACCOUNTS

Elaborating on the recommendations to the county treasurer, the jurors noted that the county is carrying $25,000,000

In "inactive" accounts that are used for short term investments.

Some of this fund should be transferred from 30-day arcounts to 90-day accounts in order to produce greater interest. Every $1,000,000 in a 30 day account produces $833 in interest while the same amount a 90-day account yields $2,083 at a minimum.

The jurors also urged expansion of the county's new collections agency to include all departments, and urged the supervisors to move immediately to implement this suggestion along with the recommendation for uniform county bookkeeping system.

Copies of the jurors' final report were delivered to every department head with instructions to make the recommended changes without delay or report to County Administrator Strathman reasons for not complying.

Thad B. McCarty was jury foreman, while Mrs. Maxine Hector served as secretary.

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