Uniform Complaint Procedures / Williams Act / Title IX

Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP)

Pursuant to California Education Code § 35186:

Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP) govern complaints of discrimination, harassment, violence, intimidation, and bullying on the basis of actual or perceived age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnic group identification, race, ancestry, national origin, religion color, or mental or physical disability or on a person’s association with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics in any program or activity that receives or benefits from state financial assistance.

The UCP is also used when addressing complaints alleging failure to comply with state and/or federal laws in Career Technical Education, Child Care and Development Programs including state preschool, Consolidated Categorical Programs, Foster and Homeless Youth, Local Control Funding Formula and Local Control Accountability Plans, Nutrition Services – USDA Civil Rights, Special Education, and Tobacco-Use Prevention Education Program. The UCP Form is available at the main office of each District school as well as the District Office (Human Resources).

Learn More:

BP 1312.3: Uniform Complaint Procedures

AR 1312.3: Uniform Complaint Procedures

Uniform Complaint Annual Notice 2023-2024

UNIFORM COMPLAINT FORM [1312.3-E(1) – UNIFORM COMPLAINT PROCEDURES]

FORMULARIO UNIFORME DE QUEJAS [1312.3-E(1) – PROCEDIMIENTOS UNIFORMES DE QUEJAS] (Página 7)

Williams Act Complaints

Pursuant to California Education Code § 35186

There should be sufficient textbooks and instructional materials. That means each pupil, including English learners, must have a textbook or instructional materials, or both, to use in class and to take home.

School facilities must be clean, safe, and maintained in good repair.

There should be no teacher vacancies or misassignments. There should be a teacher assigned to each class and not a series of substitutes or other temporary teachers. The teacher should have the proper credential to teach the class, including the certification required to teach English learners if present.

Teacher vacancy means a position to which a single designated certificated employee has not been assigned at the beginning of the year for an entire year or, if the position is for a one-semester course, a position to which a single designated certificated employee has not been assigned at the beginning of a semester for an entire semester.

Misassignment means the placement of a certificated employee in a teaching or services position for which the employee does not hold a legally recognized certificate or credential or the placement of a certificated employee in a teaching or services position that the employee is not otherwise authorized by statute to hold.

See below for access to a complaint form. A form may also be requested from the office of each school site or from Human Resources at the district office.

WILLIAMS COMPLAINT FORM

WILLIAMS PRESCHOOL COMPLAINT FORM

FORMULARIO DE QUEJA WILLIAMS

FORMULARIO DE QUEJA PREESCOLAR WILLIAMS

Click Box Above for Information on Title IX

District Compliance Officer / Title IX Coordinator

The Governing Board has designated the following Compliance Officer to receive and investigate all District complaints to ensure District compliance with the law:

⇒ Assistant Superintendent – Human Resources

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (415) 493-4207

Novato Unified School District Office: Human Resources – Room 101, 1015 Seventh Street, Novato, CA 94945

Investigators:

Assistant Superintendents and Administrators are assigned as appropriate

Decision Makers:

Initial Determination: NUSD Legal Counsels – AALRR (Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo)
Appeal: NUSD Superintendent

Educational programs and services are covered by the UCP

What educational programs and services are covered by the UCP?

Accommodations for Pregnant and Parenting Pupils
Adult Education
After School Education and Safety
Agricultural Career Technical Education
Career Technical and Technical Education and Career Technical and Technical Training Programs
Child Care and Development
Compensatory Education
Consolidated Categorical Aid Programs
Course Periods without Educational Content
Discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying against any protected group as identified under sections 200 and 220 and Section 11135 of the Government Code, including any actual or perceived characteristic as set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code, or on the basis of a person’s association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics, in any program or activity conducted by an educational institution, as defined in Section 210.3, that is funded directly by, or that receives or benefits from, any state financial assistance
Educational and graduation requirements for pupils in foster care, pupils who are homeless, pupils from military families and pupils formerly in Juvenile Court now enrolled in a school district
Every Student Succeeds Act
Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAP)
UCP Pamphlet 2020-2021 Revised August 2020 Page 2
Migrant Education
Physical Education Instructional Minutes
Pupil Fees
Reasonable Accommodations to a Lactating Pupil
Regional Occupational Centers and Programs
School Plans for Student Achievement
School Safety Plans
Schoolsite Councils
State Preschool
State Preschool Health and Safety Issues in LEAs Exempt From Licensing

Issues not covered by the UCP

Not all complaints fall under the scope of the UCP. Many concerns are the responsibility of the LEA, including classroom assignments, common core, grades, graduation requirements, hiring and evaluation of staff, homework policies and practices, provision of core curricula subjects, student advancement and retention, student discipline, student records, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, the Brown Act, and other general education requirements. The LEA, however, may use its local complaint procedures to address complaints not covered by the UCP.
Only allegations within the subject matters falling within the UCP can be appealed to the CDE.

In addition, the following complaints are referred to other agencies for resolution and not subject to the UCP:

Allegations of child abuse are referred to County Departments of Social Services, Protective Services Divisions, or appropriate law enforcement agency.
Health and safety complaints regarding licensed facilities operating a Child Development Program are referred to the Department of Social Services.
Employment complaints are sent to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

Relevant NUSD Board Policies

BP 0410: Nondiscrimination in District Programs and Activities

BP 0460: Local Control & Accountability Plan

BP 4030: Nondiscrimination in Employment (personnel)

BP 5131.2: Bullying (students)

BP 5145.3: Nondiscrimination/Harassment (students)

BP 5145.7: Sexual Harassment (students)

BP 5145.71: Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity Harassment (students)

BP 4119.11: Sexual Harassment (personnel-certificated)

BP 4219.11: Sexual Harassment (personnel-classified)

BP 4319.11: Sexual Harassment (personnel-mgmt & confidential)

When must a complaint be filed?

There is a one-year statute of limitations period for all complaints except those alleging discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying.

A complaint alleging retaliation or unlawful discrimination, (such as discriminatory harassment, intimidation, or bullying), must be filed not later than six (6) months from the date occurred, or six (6) months from the date the complainant first obtained knowledge of the facts of the alleged unlawful discrimination. The time for filing may be extended for up to ninety (90) days by the Superintendent or designee for good cause upon written request by the complainant setting forth the reasons for the extension.

Third parties are precluded from filing complaints on behalf of individual students; such filings are limited to the student involved or their authorized representative.

For more information, visit the California Department of Education’s webpage on Uniform Complaint Procedures:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/cp/uc/index.asp.

Complaints may also be filed with the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or within one hundred eighty (180) days of the alleged discrimination.

Complaints may also be filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) within one year of the alleged discriminiation.

For more information, visit:

U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintintro.html

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

https://www.eeoc.gov/

California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH)

https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/

How will a complaint be investigated?

Within ten (10) business days after the compliance officer receives the complaint, the compliance officer shall begin an investigation into the complaint.

In conducting the investigation, the compliance officer shall collect all available documents and review all available records, notes, or statements related to the complaint, including any additional evidence or information received from the parties during the course of the investigation. He/she shall individually interview all available witnesses with information pertinent to the complaint, and may visit any reasonably accessible location where the relevant actions are alleged to have taken place. At appropriate intervals, the compliance officer shall inform both parties of the status of the investigation.

To investigate a complaint alleging retaliation or unlawful discrimination (such as discriminatory harassment, intimidation, or bullying), the compliance officer shall interview the alleged victim(s), any alleged offenders, and other relevant witnesses privately, separately, and in a confidential manner. As necessary, additional staff or legal counsel may conduct or support the investigation.

Unless extended by written agreement with the complainant, the compliance officer shall prepare and send to the complainant, and respondent if there is one, a written report within sixty (60) calendar days of the district’s receipt of the complaint. (5 CCR 4631)

For complaints of unlawful discrimination (such as discriminatory harassment, intimidation, or bullying), the decision may, as required by law, include:

Notice of the complainant’s and respondent’s right to appeal the district’s decision to the CDE within thirty (30) calendar days, and procedures to be followed for initiating such an appeal

For complaints alleging unlawful discrimination based on state law (such as discriminatory harassment, intimidation, and bullying), the decision shall also include a notice to the complainant that:

He/she may pursue available civil law remedies outside of the district’s complaint procedures, including seeking assistance from mediation centers or public/private interest attorneys, sixty (60) calendar days after the filing of an appeal with the CDE. (Education Code 262.3)
The sixty (60) days moratorium does not apply to complaints seeking injunctive relief in state courts or to discrimination complaints based on federal law. (Education Code 262.3)
Complaints alleging discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, gender, disability, or age may also be filed with the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights at www.ed.gov/ocr within one hundred eighty (180) days of the alleged discrimination.

What happens when the investigation is complete?