City of St Charles School District

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA)

Our district is required to inform you of information that you, according to the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-95), have the right to know. 

Upon your request, our district is required to provide to you in a timely manner, the following information: 

• Whether your student’s teacher has met State qualification and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction.
• Whether your student’s teacher is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which State qualification or licensing criteria have been waived.
• Whether your student’s teacher is teaching in the field of discipline of the certification of the teacher.
• Whether your child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.

In addition to the information that parents may request, a building receiving Title I.A funds must provide to each individual parent:

• Information on the level of achievement and academic growth of your student, if applicable and available, on each of the State academic assessments required under Title I.A.
• Timely notice that your student has been assigned, or has been taught for 4 or more consecutive weeks by, a teacher who has not met applicable State certification or licensure requirements at the grade level and subject area in which the teacher has been assigned. 

COMPLAINT PROCEDURES

This guide explains how to file a complaint about any of the programs that are administered by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (the Department) under the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA)

Table of Contents

General Information

1.What is a complaint under ESSA?
2. Who may file a complaint?
3. How can a complaint be filed? 

Complaints filed with the Department

4. How can a complaint be filed with the Department?
5. How will a complaint filed with the Department be investigated?
6. How are complaints related to equitable services to nonpublic school children handled differently?

Complaints filed with LEA

7. How will a complaint filed with the LEA be investigated?
8. What happens if a complaint is not resolved at the local level (LEA)?

Appeals
9. How will appeals to the Department be investigated?
10. What happens if the complaint is not resolved at the state level (the Department)?

1. What is a complaint? 
For these purposes, a complaint is a written allegation that a local education agency (LEA) or the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (the Department) has violated a federal statute or regulation that applies to a program under ESSA.

2. Who may file a complaint?
Any individual or organization may file a complaint.

3. How can a complaint be filed?
Complaints can be filed with the LEA or with the Department. 

4. How will a complaint filed with the LEA be investigated?
Complaints filed with the LEA are to be investigated and attempted to be resolved according to the locally developed and adopted procedures.

5. What happens if a complaint is not resolved at the local level (LEA)?
A complaint not resolved at the local level may be appealed to the Department.

6. How can a complaint be filed with the Department?
A complaint filed with the Department must be a written, signed statement that includes: a) A statement that a requirement that applies to an ESSA program has been violated by the LEA or the Department, and b) The facts on which the statement is based and the specific requirement allegedly violated.

7. How will a complaint filed with the Department be investigated?
The investigation and complaint resolution proceedings will be completed within a time limit of forty-five calendar days. That time limit can be extended by the agreement of all parties. The following activities will occur in the investigation:

• Record. A written record of the investigation will be kept.
• Notification of LEA. The LEA will be notified of the complaint within five days of the complaint being filed.
• Resolution at LEA. The LEA will then initiate its local complaint procedures in an effort to first resolve the complaint at the local level.
• Report by LEA. Within thirty-five days of the complaint being filed, the LEA will submit a written summary of the LEA investigation and complaint resolution. This report is considered a public record and may be made available to parents, teachers, and other members of the general public.
• Verification. Within five days of receiving the written summary of a complaint resolution, the Department will verify the resolution of the complaint through an on-site visit, letter, or telephone call(s).
• Appeal. The complainant or the LEA may appeal the decision of the Department to the U.S. Department of Education. 

8. How are complaints related to equitable services to nonpublic school children handled differently?
In addition to the procedures listed in number 7 above, complaints related to equitable services will also be filed with the U.S. Department of Education, and they will receive all information related to the investigation and resolution of the complaint. Also, appeals to the United States Department of Education must be filed no longer than thirty days following the Department’s resolution of the complaint (or its failure to resolve the complaint).

9. How will appeals to the Department be investigated?
The Department will initiate an investigation within ten days, which will be concluded within thirty days from the day of the appeal. This investigation may be continued beyond the thirty-day limit at the discretion of the Department. At the conclusion of the investigation, the Department will communicate the decision and reasons for the decision to the complainant and the LEA. Recommendations and details of the decision are to be implemented within fifteen days of the decision being delivered to the LEA.

10. What happens if a complaint is not resolved at the state level (the Department)? 
The complainant or the LEA may appeal the decision of the Department to the United States Department of Education. 

Electronic Communication

Staff members are encouraged to communicate with students and parents/guardians for educational purposes using a variety of effective methods, including electronic communication. As with other forms of communication, staff members must maintain professional boundaries with students while using electronic communication regardless of whether the communication methods are provided by the district or the staff member uses his or her own personal electronic communication devices, accounts, webpages, or other forms of electronic communication. The district's policies, regulations, procedures, and expectations regarding in-person communications at school and during the school day also apply to electronic communications for educational purposes, regardless of when those communications occur. Staff communications must be professional, and student communications must be appropriate. Staff members may only communicate with students electronically for educational purposes between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Staff members may use electronic communication with students only as frequently as necessary to accomplish the educational purpose.

1. When communicating electronically with students for educational purposes, staff members must use district-provided devices, accounts, and forms of communication (such as computers, phones, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and district-sponsored webpages or social networking sites), when available. If district-provided devices, accounts, and forms of communication are unavailable, staff members communicating electronically with students must do so in accordance with number two below. Staff members may communicate with students using district-provided forms of communication without first obtaining supervisor approval. These communications may be monitored. With district permission, staff members may establish websites or other accounts on behalf of the district that enable communications between staff members and students or parents/guardians. Any such website or account is considered district-sponsored and must be professional and conform to all district policies, regulations, and procedures.
2. A staff member's supervisor may authorize a staff member to communicate with students using the staff member's personal telephone numbers, addresses, webpages, or accounts (including, but not limited to, accounts used for texting) to organize or facilitate a district-sponsored class or activity if the communication is determined necessary or beneficial, if a district-sponsored form of communication is not available, and if the communication is related to the class or activity. The district will provide notification to the parents/guardians of students participating in classes or activities for which personal electronic communications have been approved. Staff members may be required to send the communications simultaneously to the supervisor if directed to do so. Staff members are required to provide their supervisors with all education-related communications with district students upon request.
3. Staff use of any electronic communication is subject to the district's policies, regulations, and procedures including, but not limited to, policies, regulations, procedures, and legal requirements governing the confidentiality and release of information about identifiable students. Employees who obtain pictures or other information about identifiable students through their connections with the district are prohibited from posting such pictures or information on personal websites or personal social networking websites without permission from a supervisor. 
4. The district discourages staff members from communicating with students electronically for reasons other than educational purposes. When electronic communication is not for educational purposes, the section of this policy titled "Exceptions to This Policy" applies, and if concerns are raised, the staff member must be prepared to demonstrate that the communications are appropriate. This policy does not limit staff members from communicating with their children, stepchildren, or other persons living within the staff member’s home who happen to be students of the district. 

CONSEQUENCES

Staff members who violate this policy will be disciplined, up to and including termination of employment. Depending on the circumstances, the district may report staff members to law enforcement and the Children's Division (CD) of the Department of Social Services for further investigation, and the district may seek revocation of a staff member's license(s) with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Further information about staff-student relations may be found on the District website in the Board Policies. (Board Policy GBH) 

Notice of Non-Discrimination

The St. Charles School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, disability, or age in its programs and activities. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies and the district’s grievance procedures. 

Students Title IX
Assistant Superintendant of Human Resources
St. Charles R-VI School District
400 North Sixth Street
St. Charles, MO 63301
Phone: 636-443-4005

Students- Americans with Disabilities Act/504
Assistant Superintendant of Special Education
St. Charles R-VI School District
400 North Sixth Street
St. Charles, MO 63301
Phone: 636-443-4086

In the event the compliance officer is unavailable or is the subject of a report that would otherwise be made to the compliance officer, reports should instead be directed to the Superintendent.

Superintendent of Schools
St. Charles R-VI School District
400 North Sixth Street
St. Charles, MO 63301
Phone: 636-443-4033

(Board Policy AC: critical)