Resolution of Discrimination/Harassment Complaints

Where and How to File a Complaint of Discrimination, Harassment, Intimidation, and/or Bullying

The resolution of most complaints is the responsibility of local educational agencies (LEAs), which consist of local school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools.

LEAs are required to establish local complaint policies that describe the procedures that must be followed to resolve complaints. The LEA has ultimate authority over many subjects, including:

• hiring and evaluation of staff
• student classroom and/or school assignments
• student discipline
• student homework/class assignment grades

The California Code of Regulations; Title 5 (5 CCR), Section 4600 et seq. requires LEAs, among other things, to adopt and publish procedures referred to as the Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP) that provide for prompt and equitable resolution of complaints alleging discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and/or bullying on the basis of a protected characteristic. The LEA must notify pupils, parents, teachers, and the community of its local complaint procedures and identify the person or persons responsible for processing complaints.

If you are a pupil, parent, interested third party or organization and you want to report an instance of discrimination, harassment, intimidation and/or bullying on the basis of a protected characteristic, a complaint must be filed with your LEA no later than 6 months from the date the incident occurred, or the date you first obtained knowledge that the incident occurred. Your LEA may have a complaint form available for your use, however you are not required to use the complaint form provided by the LEA in order to file a complaint. It is a good idea to make a copy of the complaint for the record.

Response to UCP Complaints

Within 60 days from the date of receipt of the complaint, the LEA shall conduct and complete an investigation of the complaint and prepare an investigation report. During this process, the person responsible for the filing of the complaint is to be given the opportunity to provide evidence the complainant believes supports the allegations. The LEA investigation report should include: (1) findings of fact based on the evidence gathered; (2) conclusion providing a clear determination for each allegation as to whether the LEA is in compliance with the relevant laws; (3) corrective actions, if the LEA finds merit; (4) notice of the right to appeal the LEA’s investigation report to the California Department of Education (CDE) within 30 days; and, (5) the procedures to be followed to initiate such an appeal. The LEA has 60 days to complete an investigation and provide a written investigation report to the person filing the complaint.

Appeals

If the complainant disagrees with the findings of the investigation, the complainant has the right to appeal the findings to the CDE within 30 days of the date of the LEA investigation report. The CDE’s Education Equity UCP Office (EEUCPO) reviews appeals relative to discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and/or bullying on the basis of a protected characteristic.

The 5 CCR, Section 4632(b), requires that the appeal, when submitted to the CDE, only include a copy of the original complaint and the LEA’s investigation report (IR). Additionally, the request for appeal must specify and explain the basis for the appeal including at least one of the following:

• The LEA failed to follow its complaint procedures.
• Relative to the allegations of the complaint, the LEA IR lacks material findings of fact necessary to reach a conclusion of law.
• The material findings of fact in the LEA IR are not supported by substantial evidence.
• The legal conclusion in the LEA IR is inconsistent with the law.
• In a case in which the LEA found noncompliance, the corrective actions fail to provide a proper remedy.

It is crucial that appeals, when submitted, comply with the requirements stated above. Appeals that do not comply with the requirements stated above will not be processed. Completed appeals should be e-mailed to the Education Equity UCP Office at eeucpo@cde.ca.gov.

Resources

For additional information about the UCP, please refer to the CDE Uniform Complaint Procedures webpage

For Complaints related to Special Education, please refer to the CDE Special Education Complaint Process webpage

For discrimination complaints related to LEA employment, please refer to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) webpage

Nondiscrimination In Public School
Information on where and how to file a complaint of discrimination, harassment, intimidation and/or bullying based on a protected class.

No discriminación en las escuelas públicas
Información en dónde y cómo presentar una queja por discriminación, hostigamiento, intimidación o acoso a una clase protegida.

More translations of the Nondiscrimination in Public School are available in the Clearinghouse for Multilingual Documents (CMD).

For any questions regarding appeals please contact the Education Equity UCP Office by e-mail eeucpo@cde.ca.gov.