Grand Jury

MARIN COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT SUMMARY 9 MARIN COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY 2014-2015 • AUGUST 2015 Report issued June 10, 2015 e Marin County Civil Grand Jury was both surprised and cha- grined to fi nd that, in a community as affl uent and well educated as Marin, a signifi cant gap exists in high school graduation rates between stu- dents designated as English Learners (ELs) and their peers. e gradua- tion rate for all California students for the 2012-2013 school year was 80.4 percent while the rate for ELs was 63.1 percent. In Marin County, the overall graduation rate was a laudable 91.4 percent, while the EL rate was 67.9 percent, 23.5 percent lower. Marin County is far ahead of the state's overall graduation rate but must improve the graduation rate of ELs. e Grand Jury conducted a six- month investigation that included more than 25 interviews with edu- cators, focusing on Novato High School and San Rafael High School, the two high schools with the highest EVERY CHILD COUNTS: English Learners in Marin County Public Schools R1. Marin County Board of Supervisors and each City Council and Town Council in Marin County adopt and implement a COIN ordinance prior to June 1, 2016, or prior to the next round of negotiations, whichever comes earlier. R2. Marin County Board of Supervisors and each City Council and Town Council in Marin County adopt and implement a COIN ordinance which includes, but is not limited to the following: 1. Hire an independent, experienced Lead Negotiator to negotiate all labor agreements. 2. Hire an independent auditor to determine the fi scal impact of each provision in the current contact, and make this analysis available for public review. 3. Make public each proposal, a er it is accepted or rejected by either Party, and publicly verify the costs of that accepted or rejected proposal by an independent auditor. 4. Make public seven days prior to a Board or Council meeting the negotiated tentative agreement and the fi scal analysis thereof, which are to be independently verifi ed. 5. A er seven days, place the fi nal tentative agreement on the following two consecutive Employer's public meeting agendas: the fi rst meeting is for discussion of the tentative agreement; the second meeting is for a vote by the Employer to approve or disapprove the tentative agreement. RECOMMENDATIONS Continued on page 10 F2 e COIN process can be implemented without aff ecting the manner in which tentative agreements are negotiated but which nevertheless will ensure public awareness of the terms and cost of those agreements in advance of their being adopted. F3. e COIN process mandates transparency in government decision-making, allowing residents to be informed and to participate in public discussion of how their tax dollars are spent. Negotiation continued from page 8 Chart provided by the 2014-2015 Grand Jury

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