Community Relations - Williams Uniform Complaint Procedures
BP 1312.4
Note: Education Code 35186 mandates school districts to establish policies and procedures regarding deficiencies related to textbooks and instructional materials, emergency or urgent facilities conditions that pose a threat to the health and safety of students or staff, and teacher vacancy or misassignment in the educational programs run by them. Though not specifically mentioned in Education Code 35186, CSBA recommends that, for consistency, County Offices of Education (COEs) should apply the provisions of Education Code 35186 to schools run by them, since the laws that establish such COE-run schools generally deem the COEs to be school districts. For example, Education Code 48667 deems a COE operating a community day school pursuant to Education Code 48660 to be a school district. CSBA recommends that the procedure below be used only for those complaints specified in Education Code 35186 and that regular uniform complaint procedures continue to be used for all other issues. Education Code 35186 requires the posting of notices in every classroom of every school/program. As added by Register 2005, No. 52, 5 CCR 4680-4687 further delineate legal requirements for the complaint form and notice. See the accompanying exhibits for a sample notice and complaint form.
Types of Complaints
The County Office of Education shall use the following procedures to investigate and resolve complaints when the complainant alleges that any of the following has occurred: (Education Code 35186; 5 CCR 4681, 4682)
1. Textbooks and instructional materials
a. A student, including an English learner, does not have standards-aligned textbooks or instructional materials or state- or County Superintendent-adopted textbooks or other required instructional materials to use in class.
b. A student does not have access to textbooks or instructional materials to use at home or after school.
c. Textbooks or instructional materials are in poor or unusable condition, have missing pages, or are unreadable due to damage.
2. Teacher vacancy or misassignment
a. A semester begins and a teacher vacancy exists.
b. A teacher who lacks credentials or training to teach English learners is assigned to teach a class with more than 20 percent English learner students in the class.
c. A teacher is assigned to teach a class for which the teacher lacks subject matter competency.
Vacancy means a position to which a single designated certificated employee has not been assigned at the beginning of the year for an entire year or, if the position is for a one-semester course, a position to which a single designated certificated employee has not been assigned at the beginning of the semester for an entire semester. (Education Code 35186; 5 CCR 4682)
Beginning of the year or semester means the first day classes necessary to serve all the students enrolled are established with a single designated certificated employee assigned for the duration of the class, but not later than 20 working days after the first day students attend classes for that semester. (5 CCR 4600)
Misassignment means the placement of a certificated employee in a teaching or services position for which the employee does not hold a legally recognized certificate or credential or the placement of a certificated employee in a teaching or services position that the employee is not otherwise authorized by statute to hold. (Education Code 35186; 5 CCR 4600)
3. Facilities
A condition poses an emergency or urgent threat to the health or safety of students or staff.
Emergency or urgent threat means structures or systems that are in a condition that poses a threat to the health and safety of students or staff while at school, including but not limited to gas leaks; nonfunctioning heating, ventilation, fire sprinklers, or air-conditioning systems; electrical power failure; major sewer stoppage; major pest or vermin infestation; broken windows or exterior doors or gates that will not lock and that pose a security risk; abatement of hazardous materials previously undiscovered that pose an immediate threat to students or staff; or structural damage creating a hazardous or uninhabitable condition. (Education Code 17592.72)
Filing of Complaint
Note: Education Code 35186 requires that complaints be investigated and resolved within the timelines specified below. As added by Register 2005, No. 52, 5 CCR 4680 requires the principal/program administrator to forward complaints beyond his/her control to the appropriate COE official in a timely manner, but not to exceed 10 working days. During the Categorical Program Monitoring (CPM) process (formerly the Coordinated Compliance Review), California Department of Education (CDE) staff will expect to see statements regarding the filing of the complaint, the investigation, timelines, and the complainant’s right to appeal to the County Board and to appeal facility complaints to the CDE, as detailed in the following section.
A complaint alleging any condition(s) specified above shall be filed with the principal/program administrator or designee at the school/program in which the complaint arises. The principal/program administrator or designee shall forward a complaint about problems beyond his/her authority to the County Superintendent of Schools or designee in a timely manner, but not to exceed 10 working days. (Education Code 35186; 5 CCR 4680)
The principal/program administrator or designee shall make all reasonable efforts to investigate any problem within his/her authority. He/she shall remedy a valid complaint within a reasonable time period not to exceed 30 working days from the date the complaint was received. (Education Code 35186)
Note: As added by Register 2005, No. 52, 5 CCR 4680 requires that responses to complaints be mailed to the complainant within the timelines specified below.
Complaints may be filed anonymously. If the complainant has indicated on the complaint form that he/she would like a response to the complaint, the principal/program administrator or designee shall report the resolution of the complaint to him/her within 45 working days of the initial filing of the complaint. If a response is requested, the response shall be made to the mailing address of the complainant as indicated on the complaint form. At the same time, the principal/program administrator or designee shall report the same information to the County Superintendent or designee. (Education Code 35186; 5 CCR 4680)
If a complainant is not satisfied with the resolution of a complaint, he/she has the right to describe the complaint to the County Board of Education at a regularly scheduled meeting. (Education Code 35186; 5 CCR 4686)
Note: As added by Register 2005, No. 52, 5 CCR 4687 specifies that for facilities complainants, a complainant has 15 days to appeal to the Superintendent of Public Instruction regarding a county office’s suggested resolution.
For any complaint concerning a facility condition that poses an emergency or urgent threat to the health or safety of students or staff as described in item #3 above, a complainant who is not satisfied with the resolution proffered by the principal/program administrator or County Superintendent or designee may file an appeal to the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) within 15 days of receiving the district’s response. The complainant shall comply with the appeal requirements specified in 5 CCR 4632. (Education Code 35186; 5 CCR 4687)
All complaints and written responses shall be public records. (Education Code 35186; 5 CCR 4686)
Reports
Note: During the CPM process, CDE staff will expect to see a statement that the COE is required to report summarized data as specified below.
The County Superintendent or designee shall report summarized data on the nature and resolution of all complaints to the County Board on a quarterly basis. The report shall include the number of complaints by general subject area with the number of resolved and unresolved complaints. These summaries shall be publicly reported on a quarterly basis at a regularly scheduled County Board meeting. (Education Code 35186; 5 CCR 4686)
Forms and Notices
Note: Education Code 35186 requires that the complaint form contain the following specified elements. In addition, Education Code 35186 requires that a notice be posted in each classroom in each school/program run by the COE, as specified below. See the accompanying exhibits for a sample form and classroom notice.
The County Superintendent or designee shall ensure that the county office’s complaint form contains a space to indicate whether the complainant desires a response to his/her complaint and specifies the location for filing a complaint. A complainant may add as much text to explain the complaint as he/she wishes. (Education Code 35186)
The County Superintendent or designee shall ensure that a notice is posted in each classroom in each school/program containing the components specified in Education Code 35186. (Education Code 35186)
Legal Reference:
EDUCATION CODE
1240 County superintendent of schools, duties
1791-1792 Establishment and management of technical, agricultural and natural resources conservation school
1980-1984 Establishment of county community school
17592.72 Urgent or emergency repairs, School Facility Emergency Repair Account
33126 School Accountability Report Card
35186 Williams uniform complaint procedure
48660-48667 Establishment of community day school
60119 Hearing on sufficiency of instructional materials
CODE OF REGULATIONS, TITLE 5
4600-4671 Uniform complaint procedures, especially:
4680-4687 Williams complaints
Management Resources:
WEB SITES
CSBA: http://www.csba.org
California Department of Education, Williams case: http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/ce/wc/index.asp
Policy Reference UPDATE Service
Copyright 2006 by California School Boards Association, West Sacramento, California 95691