Emery County School District

Policy: KE - Public Complaints

Date Adopted: 16 June 2021

Current Review / Revision: 16 June 2021

The purpose of this policy is to outline procedures to facilitate solutions at the lowest level for public complaints.

• All complaints from members of the public are to be resolved at the lowest possible level (staff member, staff supervisor, principal, etc) and shall be addressed in a timely manner.
• Formal complaints are made via the Patron Complaint Form and are resolved at the lowest level.
• Patron complaint forms are to be acknowledged by the receiving employee or supervisor.  This may be done by letter, personal contact, phone call, email or other digital method.
• The District does not share details of disciplinary actions or staff remediation with the public.
• The Board is the final arbiter for complaints that are not resolved at a lower level.
• Anonymous letters or unsigned patron complaint forms will be treated as an informal complaint.

• Students or parents with individual complaints should first address the staff member involved.
• Matters that are unresolved after staff member contact should be addressed to the principal.  This may be done as an informal or formal complaint. 
• Matters that are unresolved at the school level may be directed as a formal complaint to the District. Such complaints will be reviewed by the Superintendent and assigned to the appropriate district office staff member for investigation.

• General complaints about a school or school climate should be directed to the principal.  This may be done informally or formally.  Formal complaints should be submitted to the principal.
• Matters unresolved at the school level may be directed to the Superintendent as a formal complaint.  The Superintendent will assign the appropriate district office staff member to investigate. 

• If feasible, the complainant is encouraged to bring the complaint to the individual concerned.
• If the problem cannot be resolved directly with the individual concerned, it should be brought to the attention of that staff member's immediate supervisor.
• The subject of the complaint shall be given the opportunity to provide an explanation and presentation of the facts, as he or she perceives them.
• If the issue is not resolved by involvement of the immediate supervisor, the complainant may file a formal complaint to the principal or department supervisor.
• If the subject of the complaint is a principal or department supervisor, the complaint should be submitted to the appropriate district supervisor.  If the subject of the complaint is a district supervisor, the complaint should be submitted to the Superintendent.
• The Board will only address complaints regarding personnel matters after the issue has been addressed by school and district administration, or if the issue involves the Superintendent.

• Parents or students will direct complaints directly to the coach/advisor.  If the complaint involves a specific incident, the parent or student will ask for a meeting with the coach/advisor at least 24 hours after the incident occurred.
• If the parent and coach/advisor cannot come to an agreement, the parent may request a meeting with the school athletic director or other principal-designated personnel.
• If the parent and athletic director/other personnel cannot come to an agreement, the parent may request a meeting with the building administrator.
• If the parent and building administrator cannot come to an agreement, the parent may file a formal complaint to the District.  The Superintendent will assign the appropriate district office staff member to investigate. 
• If the parent and District cannot come to an agreement through the results of the investigation, the parent may request a meeting with the Board.

KE- Public Complaint Form