PUBLIC CHARGES. 30.1 The District shall process public charges according to the following procedures. Failure to do so is a grievable offense which could mean an arbitrator would not allow any discipline growing from the public charge if the arbitrator felt the unit member were disadvantaged by failure to follow these procedures.
30.2 A complaint regarding a bargaining unit member made to any member of the administration by any student, parent, or person which alleges professional error, poor judgment in the execution of professional responsibility or personal misconduct, which has affected or might affect the work performance of the bargaining unit member, shall be discussed with the bargaining unit member and the complainant identified to the bargaining unit member within 3 work days of receiving the information or, if immediate discipline is contemplated, within 24 hours of receiving the information. In the event that these notification and discussion procedures are precluded by applicable law with respect to the investigation of complaints of possible criminal conduct, child abuse or sexual harassment of students, the bargaining unit member shall only be provided the complaint at the appropriate point in the investigation process. In these circumstances prior to a final decision on whether to seek discipline, the unit member shall be provided an opportunity to meet personally with the administrator responsible for the investigation and respond to the allegations.
30.3 When charges by any of the above complainants has been reduced to writing, the bargaining unit member shall be given a copy within 3 work days and shall be provided an opportunity to respond to the charge and attach a written statement before it is placed in his or her file. In the event the charge has not been reduced to writing, the bargaining unit member may, at his or her discretion, require that the complaint be reduced to writing by the administration. The bargaining unit member and the District may agree that the written complaint may not be placed in the personnel file.
30.4 Should the bargaining unit member or the District believe that the allegation in the complaint is sufficiently serious to warrant a meeting between the bargaining unit member and the complainant, the evaluator shall endeavor to set up a meeting. The bargaining unit member may elect to have representation at the meeting by providing reasonable notice to the District.
30.5 The District shall not dismiss or refuse to re-employ a...
PUBLIC CHARGES. 3.06.1 Any anonymous or unsubstantiated public complaint shall not be used in a member’s evaluation or included in a member’s personnel file. If the administration decides that a complaint received about a member is not serious enough to warrant a meeting with the member, subsequent evaluations shall contain no reference to the complaint.
3.06.2 If the administrator believes a complaint is serious enough to bring to the attention of the member, the member may request the administrator to schedule a meeting of the member, the complainant, and the administrator. If, in the judgment of the administrator, such a meeting would be counter-productive, the meeting may not be scheduled. The reasons for that judgment shall be given the member upon request. If no meeting is held, or if a meeting is held without the opportunity for the member to be present, subsequent evaluations shall contain no reference to the complaint.
PUBLIC CHARGES. 10.1 Before material from public complaints which the District has determined should lead to discipline is entered into a unit member's file, the unit member shall be afforded the opportunity for a hearing before the Superintendent, or their designee.
10.2 Provided that the allegations of unit members misconduct do not raise issues of possible criminal conduct, the unit member shall have a written explanation of the public complaint within ten (10) days of receipt by the District.
10.3 If the unit member requests a joint meeting, one shall be arranged between the complainant and/or their representative and the unit member and/or their representative. The District and the Federation may be present at this meeting.
10.3.1 The administrator responsible for the unit member will examine the available evidence, interview the unit member, and determine whether discipline is warranted.
10.3.2 If the administrator determines that discipline is warranted, a hearing will be scheduled at which the unit member is entitled to representation and to present evidence on their behalf. The unit member shall be presented written charges and the name of the complainant(s) is in sufficient time such that the unit member has an opportunity to prepare a response. The burden of proof is on the District to prove misconduct.
10.4 If the Superintendent determines that discipline is not warranted, no record of any complaint on the matter will be contained in the unit member's personnel file.
10.5 Nothing in this article is intended to interfere with the District's responsibility to comply with the Child Abuse Reporting laws.
10.6 Except as otherwise required by law, complaints concerning unit members made publicly at the Board Meetings will be referred to this process procedure.
PUBLIC CHARGES. 10.3.1 A copy of any written complaint from a citizen or school official about an employee shall be forwarded within two (2) working days to the employee by the Tulare County Office of Education. Said complaint shall not be entered into the employee's official personnel file until and unless the following steps have been completed:
10.3.1.1 Should the immediate supervisor believe that the allegations in the complaint are sufficiently serious to warrant a meeting of all the parties, the immediate supervisor shall schedule a meeting between the complainant, the employee and him/herself. The employee shall have the right to have an Association Representative at the meeting.
10.3.1.2 If the matter is not resolved at the meeting, resulting in the complete withdrawal of the complaint, the employee shall be given compensated release time during non-instructional hours for the purpose of initialing and dating the written complaint and preparing a written response to such complaint. In the event the employee's assigned work site for that day does not permit the employee sufficient time for round-trip travel to the County Superintendent of School's Office plus one
(1) additional hour during non-instructional time within the work day, the Tulare County Office of Education will provide release time during instructional hours.
10.3.2 The County Superintendent of Schools shall not dismiss or refuse to re-employ an employee on the basis of allegations in a citizen or parent complaint without following the appropriate procedures of the Education Code.
10.3.3 In order for a public complaint to be processed, the Office must be in possession of:
10.3.3.1 a written complaint 10.3.3.2 a deposition, or
PUBLIC CHARGES. In order to promote fair and constructive communication, the following procedures shall govern the resolution of complaints. Every effort should be made to resolve a complaint at the earliest possible stage and as quickly as possible.
1. Complaints concerning school personnel should be made directly by the complainant to the person against whom the complaint is lodged. Parents/guardians are encouraged to attempt to orally resolve concerns with the unit staff member personally. If the complaint is not resolved, the complainants are requested to reduce the charge to writing to the school principal. The school principal shall immediately forward a copy of the complaint to the unit member. A written complaint must include the name of each unit member involved and a brief, but specific, summary of the complaint and the facts surrounding it. It shall include the date on which complainant discussed the issue with the unit member. The parties to this agreement shall maintain the confidentiality of charges brought against a unit member. Confidentiality shall be maintained while the principal is conducting his/her preliminary investigation. During the preliminary investigation, the principal shall hold a conference with the unit member and complainant in an attempt to resolve the complaint to the satisfaction of the person(s) involved. If the complaint in resolved, the principal will so advise all concerned parties, including the Superintendent or designee.
2. If the complaint remains unresolved after review by the principal or the immediate supervisor, the principal shall refer the written complaint, together with a report and analysis, to the Superintendent or designee. The Superintendent/designee shall review the matter and meet with either party individually or collectively upon request of the party or the Superintendent/designee. The Superintendent/designee will issue a decision in writing which may be appealed either by complainant or unit member to the Board within ten (10) calendar days. The Board shall not address the complaint either in Closed or Open Session, unless the Board has received the Superintendent/designee's written report. The Superintendent/designee's report shall contain, but not be limited to:
a. The name of each unit member involved;
b. A brief, but specific, summary of the complaint and the facts surrounding it, sufficient to inform the Board and the unit member(s) as to the precise nature of the complaint and to allow the unit member(s) t...
PUBLIC CHARGES. 13.1 Public charges of a derogatory or critical nature shall be fairly and impartially investigated, corroborated and, if possible, verified prior to disciplinary action of the charged employee or prior to inclusion in employee's evaluation or personnel file. The employee has the right to respond to these charges in writing and to have such response made a part of his/her personnel file.
13.2 A teacher may request a meeting with the principal and complainant to discuss the allegations.
13.3 Non substantiated complaints will not be placed in the employee's evaluation or personnel file.
13.4 If a formal complaint submitted in writing against the teacher is received by the District or Principal, the teacher shall be notified in writing of such complaint within ten (10) days.
PUBLIC CHARGES. A. Any citizen or parental complaint that is to be placed in an employee's file shall be reported to the employee by the administrator receiving the complaint.
B. If the employee accused believes the allegations in the complaint are sufficiently serious to warrant a meeting, the employee shall request a meeting with the complainant. The administrator who originally received the complaint shall be present at said meeting if so requested by the employee.
C. Discipline less than Dismissal: All employees may be subject to discipline less than dismissal based upon criteria listed in EC 44932 (a) or any subsequent amendments to this section passed by the Legislature. This section shall apply for the entire work year as defined in Article 5 - Section I of the current contract for all employees.
PUBLIC CHARGES. 15.1 Except as provided in Article 15.3 below, no negative and/or unsatisfactory evaluation or disciplinary action shall be predicated upon information or material of a derogatory or critical nature which has been received by the evaluator or District administration from students, parents, and/or citizens, unless the following procedures have been followed:
15.1.1 Any student, parent, or citizen complaint about a unit member shall be reported to the unit member by the administrator receiving the complaint within five (5) work days of receipt if the complaint may be used against the unit member.
15.1.2 Should the involved unit member believe the allegations in the complaint warrant a meeting, the immediate supervisor shall attempt to schedule a meeting between the unit member, complainant and immediate supervisor. At the request of the unit member, an Association representative shall be present at the meeting. If the complainant refuses to attend the meeting, the complaint shall not be accepted or utilized by the District in any evaluation or disciplinary action against the unit member.
15.1.3 If the matter is not resolved at the meeting to the satisfaction of the complainant, the complaint shall be reduced to writing by the complainant or dictated by the complainant to the unit member’s immediate supervisor or designee within a reasonable amount of time. A copy of the complaint will be provided to the unit member. The unit member shall be given reasonable release time during the non-instructional duty day to review the complaint. If the complaint is not reduced to writing, the matter shall be dropped.
15.2 Complaints which are withdrawn or shown to be false after an objective investigation by the District shall not be placed in the unit member's personnel file or made a part of any disciplinary action against the unit member.
15.3 This article shall not be applicable in any circumstance where the alleged conduct of the unit member involves unlawful misconduct including sexual harassment, child abuse, violations of state or federal law, or is subject to investigation by a law enforcement agency.
PUBLIC CHARGES. A. Formal or Uniform Complaints, which may require remediation or disciplinary action, submitted to the District from students, parents or citizens about a unit member shall be reported to the unit member in writing within five (5) duty days of the complaint being filed with the District.
B. Should the involved unit member or supervisor believe that a meeting would assist resolution of the complaint, an attempt will be made to schedule a meeting between the unit member and the complainant. At the request of the unit member, an Association representative may be present at the meeting.
C. No disciplinary action can be taken against the unit member unless the unit member receives from the District a copy of the written statement of the complaint listing date of complaint, name of complainant, and specific concerns, and has been given an opportunity to respond in writing. The unit member shall be given time during the duty day to review the complaint so long as such review would not interfere with classroom responsibilities.
D. A formal evaluation rating which makes reference to a complaint cannot be used unless the complaint has been discussed between the unit member and evaluator and the unit member has had an opportunity to respond with an explanation in writing to be attached to the formal evaluation.
PUBLIC CHARGES. No negative or unsatisfactory evaluation shall be predicated upon information or material of a derogatory or critical nature which has been received by the evaluator from students, parents or members of the public unless the following procedures have been followed:
1. Any written complaints from a student, parent or citizen regarding a unit member shall be reported and a copy given to the unit member by the administrator receiving the complaint within five (5) working days of receipt.
2. The unit member may request, or the administrator shall attempt to convene, a meeting among the unit member, the complaining party and the administrator in order to attempt to resolve the problem.
3. The unit member shall be provided a reasonable opportunity to prepare a written response or rebuttal to the critical material. The unit member shall be given time during the professional day, without reduction in pay. The above restrictions are not intended to preclude use by the evaluator of information or knowledge obtained independently of the above-mentioned sources.
4. Verbal complaints may not be used against a unit member in the evaluation or discipline process.
5. The unit member shall have the right of Association representation at any meeting regarding the complaint to the extent provided by law.
6. Complaints which are withdrawn, determined by the site administrator to be false, or otherwise proven to be false shall be destroyed except as required by law.
