When should the school board hear a parental appeal? It depends whether the parent’s concern relates to board policy or an administrative regulation or rule.
If a parent has a concern with school board policy, which the superintendent cannot satisfactorily resolve, then the parent has the right to appeal to the school board. The appeal process may be informal or formal, depending upon local practices, customs or traditions.
The parent may informally choose to appeal to the board during public comment at the board meeting. The board should listen to the appeal without comment. The board has options to address the appeal. The board may refer it to the superintendent and require a follow up report. It may create an ad hoc advisory committee to meet with the superintendent and parent followed by a recommendation for disposition for board action. It may decide to place the appeal on the board meeting agenda in order to conduct a formal hearing at either its next regularly scheduled meeting, or at a special meeting convened specifically to hear the appeal.
The formal process requires the parent to submit the appeal in writing, along with a request for a hearing, to the board secretary. The board secretary will report the correspondence to the board. The board will decide if it will hear the appeal and direct the superintendent to respond to the parent accordingly.
If a parent has a concern with a non-policy matter like an administrative regulation or rule, then the parent should appeal to the lowest administrative level possible where it can be resolved. If the parent appeal reaches the superintendent, then the superintendent’s disposition concludes the appeal process. This is possible because of a school board policy that authorizes the superintendent as the final arbitrator of a non-policy appeal. If the parent does not accept the superintendent’s disposition, then the parent can appeal the board’s policy. At that point, the formal or informal appeal process to the board begins.
Board members must agree to the informal and formal process of a board policy appeal. They also must agree with the policy that the superintendent is the final arbitrator of a non-policy appeal. It is essential for the board to be united so as to provide consistency and fairness to parents who wish to exercise their right of appeal.
(#11213)
