4.12 — Grievance Process

4.12 — Grievance Process: School Policies and Services

Liberty Common School values opinions, perspectives, and ideas of the parents of students at the school, as well as the importance of being accountable to parents for the educational program for their children.

An important element of institutional accountability is to provide avenues for parent suggestions, and grievances that both satisfy parents, and improve the operation of the school.  The sequence for raising parent suggestions, and grievances is prioritized as follows:

Sequence For Expressing Parental Concern:

1. Teacher appointment — If a concern exists regarding specifics of the classroom, the teacher, or relevant support-staff member may be contacted directly for an appointment.  We recommend parents work directly with the teacher to resolve concerns for which teachers are responsible.  Parents should be mindful of the time constraints of teachers.  Please do not interrupt a teacher’s lunch, or grading time.
2. Principal appointments — If a concern exists regarding a specific area of school administration, or if a parent has been unable to satisfactorily address a concern by working directly with the teacher regarding classroom issues, the principal (or an assistant principal) may be contacted directly for an appointment.  Parents utilizing this avenue can expect a response from the principal as soon as practical.
3. Personal Appointments — If there exists a concern of a personal nature involving a particular member of the LCS staff, or Board of Directors, the individual may be contacted directly for an appointment.  Parents should be careful to respect the time, and privacy of those they need to contact.
4. If a parent has pursued all available options, yet issues remain unresolved, a formal grievance may be summarized, and submitted in writing to the Board of Directors.  The Board will review the summary and make one of the following determinations:  The Board may sustain a previous administrative decision.  The Board may appoint up to two of its members to investigate the matter.  The Board may address the matter in an open Board format.  The Board may address the matter in an executive session.
5. BOD Meeting — Parent grievances may be raised during the community-comment portion of any BOD meeting.
6. If there is a concern related to sexual harassment involving any member of the Liberty Common School community which impedes access to the school’s educational programming, refer to grievance procedures in the LCS Title IX Policy.