AR 1312.1 — COMPLAINTS CONCERNING DISTRICT EMPLOYEES

AR 1312.1(a)
Community Relations

COMPLAINTS CONCERNING DISTRICT EMPLOYEES

Complaint Procedures

The Superintendent or designee shall determine whether a complaint should be
considered a complaint against the District and/or an individual employee, and whether
it should be resolved by the District's process for complaints concerning personnel,
and/or other District procedures, or both.

(cf. 1312.2 – Complaints Concerning Instructional Material)
(cf. 1312.3 – Uniform Complaint Procedures)
(cf. 4144/4244/4344 – Complaints)

The Board of Education shall annually review District policies and regulations related to
complaints against school personnel. (Education Code 35160.5)

To promote prompt and fair resolution of the complaint, the following procedures shall
govern the resolution of complaints against District employees:

1. Every effort should be made to resolve complaints regarding District employees at the
earliest possible stage. Any person who complains about a District employee shall be
encouraged to resolve the matter informally through direct communication with the
employee whenever possible.

2. If a complainant is unable or unwilling to resolve the complaint directly with the
employee, the complainant may submit a written complaint to the principal or other
immediate supervisor of the employee.

3. All complaints related to District personnel other than administrators shall be submitted
in writing to the principal or immediate supervisor. If the complainant is unable to
prepare the complaint in writing, administrative staff shall provide assistance in the
preparation of the complaint. Complaints related to a principal or District office
administrator shall be initially filed in writing with the Superintendent or designee.
Complaints related to the Superintendent shall be initially filed in writing with the Board
of Education.

4. When a written complaint is received, the employee who is the subject of the
complaint shall be notified within five (5) working days or in accordance with the
collective bargaining agreement.
 AR 1312.1(b)
COMPLAINTS CONCERNING DISTRICT EMPLOYEES (cont.)

5. A Written complaint shall include:

a. The full name of each employee involved
b. A brief but specific summary of the complaint and the supporting facts
surrounding it.
c. A specific description of any prior attempt to discuss the complaint with the
employee and the failure to resolve the matter.

6. Staff responsible for investigating complaints shall attempt to resolve the complaint
with the parties involved within 30 working days. Both the complainant and employee
shall be notified in writing of the final decision regarding the resolution of the
complaint.

7. Both the complainant and the employee against whom the complaint was made
may appeal within ten (10) calendar days, a decision by the principal or immediate
supervisor to the Superintendent or designee, who shall attempt to address the
complaint with the person involved within 30 calendar days. Parties should
consider and accept the Superintendent or designee's decision as final. However,
the complainant, the employee, or the Superintendent or designee may ask to
address the Board regarding the complaint within ten (10) calendar days of the
Superintendent’s or designee’s decision.

8. Before any Board consideration of a complaint, the Superintendent or
designee shall submit to the Board a written report concerning the complaint,
including but not limited to:

a. The full name of each employee involved.
b. A brief but specific summary of the complaint and the facts surrounding it,
sufficient to inform the Board and the parties as to the precise nature of the
complaint and to allow the parties to prepare a response.
c. A copy of the signed original complaint.
d. A summary of the action taken by the Superintendent or designee, and the
reasons that the problem has not been resolved.

9. The Board may uphold the Superintendent's decision without hearing the
complaint.

10. All parties to a complaint may be asked to attend a Board meeting in order to clarify
the issue and present all available evidence.

11. A closed session may be held to hear the complaint in accordance with law.
 AR 1312.1(c)
COMPLAINTS CONCERNING DISTRICT EMPLOYEES (cont.)

(cf. 9321 - Closed session purposes and agendas)
(cf. 9323 - Meeting conduct)

12. The decision of the Board shall be final.

Authority - Education Code 35160.5(c) requires District procedure for parents/guardians
of students enrolled in the District to use when presenting complaints regarding
employees of the District. Said procedure shall provide appropriate mechanisms to
respond to, and where possible, to resolve the complaints.

1. Certificated Employees (non-supervisory) - The District shall follow the procedures
set forth in the ACT/District Contract, Article 10, Sections 10.1 - 10.10. which
states:

10.1 A public charge is a written allegation against an employee by a member
of the public (other than another employee or a student) which is
deemed by the site administrator to be serious in nature.

10.2 "Serious in nature" means that the allegation, if found to be true, could
be placed in an employee's personnel file and used by the District as a
basis of disciplinary action against the employee or as documentation for
a negative comment on the employee's evaluation.

10.3 The District shall make a good faith effort to notify unit members of
public charges within five days of receipt of the complaint or before an
investigation is undertaken, whichever is sooner. The employee shall
receive a copy of the complaints which relate to conduct which may
constitute a criminal act shall be referred to appropriate authorities and
no action under this policy need be taken by the District.

10.4 Complaints made by fellow employees or students are considered to be
internal matters to be resolved at the work site. However, before any
such complaint can result in material being placed in an employee's
personnel file, the accused employee shall be afforded the same rights
as for public charges

10.5 Site administrators shall make a good faith effort to resolve public
charges at the site level. A good faith effort may include but not limited
to: (a) discussions with complainant, (b) arranging a meeting between
the employee and the complainant, (c) arranging a meeting between the
 AR 1312.1(c)

COMPLAINTS CONCERNING DISTRICT EMPLOYEES (cont.)

administrator, complainant, the employee, and an association
representative if the employee so requests.

10.6 No public complaint shall be placed in an employee's personnel file
unless the allegations have been investigated and verified by the site
administrator. "Verified," as used herein, means that after investigation it
appears more likely that the events alleged did occur than that they did
not occur.

10.7 If complainant refuses to sign a written complaint, the matter shall be
dismissed unless there is independent information to substantiate the
concern, in which case the District may proceed as appropriate based on
the independent information.

10.8 If an employee requests, the matter shall be reviewed by the
Superintendent or designee prior to the complaint being placed in the
personnel file. Further, if the employee requests, the matter may be
reviewed by the Board.

10.9 Complaints which are not substantiated upon review by the
Superintendent or designee or, where applicable, by the Board, shall
neither be placed in the unit member's personnel file nor utilized in an
evaluation or disciplinary action against the unit member.

10.10 When a public charge has been resolved or placed in an employee's
personnel file, the District may respond to the complainant indicating that
the matter has been resolved; however, whether the District does so or
not, the District shall protect the confidentiality of any action taken
against the employee.

2. Classified Employees (non-supervisory) - When a parent, student, or any other
person has a complaint against a classified employee:

a. The immediate supervisor or said employee shall attempt to set up a
meeting between the employee and the complainant(s) seeking to resolve
the matter. The employee may have a representative of his/her choice
present at the meeting.

b. If the complaint is not resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant, the
complainant shall put said complaint in writing (If the complaint is not put
in writing the complaint shall be dismissed).
 AR 1312.1(d)

COMPLAINTS CONCERNING DISTRICT EMPLOYEES (cont.)

c. The immediate supervisor shall decide if the written complaint is with or
without merit. If the immediate supervisor decides the complaint is with
merit, said complaint may be referred to the Division of Human Resources
for action in accordance with District procedures and CSEA contract.

3. Certificated and Classified Employees (supervisory)

a. When a parent, student or any other person has a complaint against a
certificated or classified supervisory employee, the Superintendent or
designee shall attempt to set up a meeting between the employee and
the complainant(s) seeking a resolution to the matter.

b. If the complaint is not resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant, the
complainant shall put the complaint in writing (if the complaint is not put in
writing, the complaint shall be dismissed).

c. The Superintendent or designee shall decide if the written complaint is
with or without merit. If the Superintendent or designee decides the
complaint is with merit, the Superintendent’s or designee’s findings may
be documented and may be placed in the employee's personnel file. The
employee may attach a written response to the complaint.

d. The employee may appeal the Superintendent's decision to the Board of
Education. The Board's decision shall be final and binding.

Complaints Regarding Child Abuse

Any complaint of child abuse or neglect alleged against a District employee shall be
reported to the appropriate local agencies in accordance with law, Board policy and
Administrative regulation.

(cf. 5141.4 - Child abuse prevention and reporting)

When a complaint of child abuse is alleged, the District shall provide parents/guardians
procedures for filing a child abuse complaint with the appropriate child protective
agencies. Upon request, such procedures shall be written in the primary language of the
parent/guardian, and the Superintendent or designee shall provide an interpreter if
needed. (Statutes Other than Code, Ch. 1102, Statutes of 1991)

Providing the above procedures to parents/guardians does not relieve mandated
reporters from their duty to report suspected child abuse in accordance with law.
 AR 1312.1(e)

COMPLAINTS CONCERNING DISTRICT EMPLOYEES (cont.)

(cf. 4112.6 - Personnel Records)
(cf. 4144 - Employee Complaints)
(cf. 5141.4 - Child Abuse Reporting Procedures)

Chino Valley Unified School District
Regulation approved: October 19, 1995
Revised: March 23, 2000
Revised: August 16, 2012
Revised: May 21, 2026