Common use of Reports and Complaints Clause in Contracts

Reports and Complaints. To request use of this grievance procedure, a person should make a report or file a complaint with a District Nondiscrimination Coordinator or Complaint Manager. No person is required to make a report or file a complaint with a particular Nondiscrimination Coordinator or Complaint Manager; individuals may request to speak to a Nondiscrimination Coordinator or Complaint Manager of the same gender. Any employee who receives a report or complaint of conduct covered by this policy must report the conduct to the Nondiscrimination Coordinator or Complaint Manager. For reports, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Complaint Manager, or designee may request a written statement and/or completion of a written complaint form regarding the report. The Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Complaint Manager, or designee may require a meeting with the Complainant and/or their parent(s)/guardian(s) in relation to a report or complaint. The following grievance process will be used to address complaints of misconduct covered by this policy unless another policy or document, including a collective bargaining agreement, prescribes a different complaint process for the conduct or concern at issue. In some cases, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Complaint Manager, or designee must consider other applicable policies when addressing complaints of misconduct covered by this policy, for example: Board policy 7:180, addressing complaints of bullying, intimidation, and harassment, (when this policy and policy 7:180 are implicated, the reasonable timeframe for completing the investigation will be the timeframes under this policy) Board policy 5:20, addressing workplace harassment Board policy 5:90, addressing reporting under the Abused and Neglected Child Report Act ("ANCRA") Board policy 7:190, addressing procedures required for suspensions and expulsions Intake Process If attempts at informal resolution are not successful or appropriate, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Complaint Manager, or designee will offer the Complainant an opportunity to file a complaint under this policy. The Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Complaint Manager or designee will notify the Complainant and any applicable witnesses of any limitations on confidentiality, including that if the District has notice of prohibited conduct that creates a risk for students, employees or other members of the District community other than the Complainant, or if sharing the identity of the Complainant or witness is necessary to complete an investigation into a complaint, the District may not be able to respect a request to maintain the confidentiality of the Complainant. The complaint and identity of the Complainant and any witnesses will not be disclosed except: (1) as required by law or this policy, (2) as necessary to fully investigate the complaint or implement interim measures, or (3) as authorized by the relevant person (Complainant or witness). If a complaint is filed, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Complaint Manager, or designee will consider whether the conduct, if true, would be conduct covered by this policy. If so, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Complaint Manager, or designee will investigate the complaint or appoint another qualified individual to investigate the matter. If no complaint is files, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Complaint Manger, or designee will consider whether to open an investigation even without the filing of a complaint. An investigation may be warranted if the reported conduct involves allegations against an employee, multiple allegations against the same alleged perpetrator, or creates a risk to the safety of the general District community. Investigation Process During an investigation, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Complaint Manager, or designee assigned to conduct the investigation (the "investigator") will provide both parties an equal opportunity to present evidence. If a party or witness is a student under 18 years of age, the investigator has the discretion to include the student's parent(s)/guardian(s) during investigatory meetings involving the student. Nothing herein limits the right of school employees to hold investigatory meetings with students under the right of in loco parentis. The investigator will inform, at regular intervals, the parties about the status of the investigation. Within 60 school business days after the date the complaint was filed, the Investigator will prepare a written document summarizing the investigation and the investigator's recommendations. All decisions will be based upon the preponderance of evidence (more likely than not) standard. For minor infractions, which are matters of a severity which, for example, (for students) typically would be handled by a student's teacher or Assistant Principal/Xxxx of Students or (for employees) an employee's direct supervisor, the investigator's summary can be informal (such as, for students, a suspension notice). For more serious infractions, which are matters of a severity that (for both students and employees) typically are escalated to the building principal or a District administrator for resolution, the investigator's summary should be in the form of an investigation report. If the investigation is completed by someone other than the Nondiscrimination Coordinator or Complaint Manager, the Investigator will submit the report to the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Complaint Manager, or designee, who will review the report to confirm if the matter is a more serious infraction. If the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Complaint Manger, or designee disagrees with the Investigator's assessment that the matter is a more serious infraction, the matter will be returned to the building level for processing as a minor infraction. If the Nondiscrimination Coordinator, Complaint Manager, or designee agrees that the matter is a more serious infraction, the Nondiscrimination Coordinator or Complaint Manager will forward the Investigator's report to the Superintendent for review. If the complaint contains allegations involving the Superintendent or one or more Board members, the report will be forwarded to the President of the Board for Board review.