2.23 - Grievance Policy

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.

Proposed Action to BOD: Parents should refer to the board policy manual, section 2.5: ACTION BY PARENT/STAFF INITIATIVE for the process of proposing specific action to the board for consideration of adoption.

2.23.2  Grievance Handling by Board Members

1.      A copy of the policy 2.23.1 shall be kept in the parent/student handbooks. Whenever this policy is updated, so too shall the parent/student handbooks be updated.

2.      For grievances directed to the board as a whole, refer to policy 2.8 Board Officers and Responsibilities, Board President, subsection 8 detailing the board president’s role as spokesperson for the board.

3.      Board members shall be mindful of open meetings laws when discussing the grievance, as they should be for all discussions.

4.      When a grievance is sent to the board as a whole, the board president shall send a copy of this grievance policy to all board members and the headmaster as a reminder of the proper procedures in handling grievances.

Adopted: 05/30/2024