If you file a complaint with the school administration regarding a teacher what are the steps?

Question

If you file a complaint with the school administration regarding a teacher what are the steps that they are supposed to take and what is the process of investigation of the complaint? Also can they tell the teacher where the complaint came from or is confidential?

Answer 1

You will need to contact your school district for the policy and the specific steps that will be taken.  Every district is different.

Answer 2

You need to consult your school's grievance policy. Call someone at the administrative office or just write a letter to the superintendent.

Answer 3

The grievance process is actually pretty complicated but doable. If you feel that a teacher has done something warranting  investigation, potentially removal from the classroom or license revocation, here's the rules and regs:

-only other certified educators, parents or legal guardians can file a complaint. This means students are not allowed to file complaints. However, you can have your parents file on your behalf.

-you must have the complete contact information of the accused teacher, meaning you would have to work with administration because this isn't information they give out willy nilly.

-complaints cannot be filed against an entity (ie, the school board, a committe, or an entire department), only against individuals.

-the accused violation must have actually been committed by the accussed educator. You can't report teacher X for something educator Y did.

-you have to look up the state educator code of ethics and list and fully describe the violated standard and what was done to violate the standard.

-list full contact information of all known witnesses

-complaint must be notarized by notary declaring full truthfulness of statement and that form is not being filed to unduly harass, intimidate or burden the accused.

-form must be filed with state board and a copy sent to the accussed educator, superintendent, and school board president.



After all this is done, it would be review by the state board to determine suitable action