Illustration by Elena Griedel
A new Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) complaint form was established as part of an effort to simplify the process of filing a complaint. The update was led by BUSD’s District Compliance Officer and Title IX Coordinator, Dana Clark (Clark did not respond to requests for an interview).
If a parent/guardian or student from BUSD feels the need to file a complaint, the issue is categorized into one of two complaint forms: a “Williams complaint” or “Uniform complaint”. One might file a Williams complaint if concerned with the sufficiency of instructional materials, emergency or urgent facilities’ conditions that pose a threat to the health and safety of pupils, or teacher vacancy or misassignment.
A Uniform complaint encompasses all other complaints that cannot apply to a Williams complaint. Most commonly, uniform complaints regard harassment, discrimination, or objection of a district employee, policy, or practice.
Once the designated complaint form is filled out, it is required to be physically turned in to the District’s main office at 2020 Bonar Street in Berkeley. The District Compliance Officer (DCO) will review the complaint, determine if an investigation is warranted, and, if so, will oversee the investigation. Within 60 days the DCO will issue BUSD’s written response to the complaint and give information regarding an appeal to the district’s decision if the person who filed the complaint is not satisfied.
Although this new complaint process is “more friendly and streamlined” than the old complaint form, the updated complaint form “is still lacking in many areas,” according to Heidi Goldstein, a parent advisor of BHS Stop Harassing (BHSSH) and a community member of the Sexual Harassment Advisory Committee (SHAC).
Goldstein stated that she believes there to be three main issues with the updated complaint form, the first being the fact that the complaint form essentially “encourages informal resolutions.”
Goldstein referred to the web page responsible for providing information about the complaint form on BUSD’s website.
The web page encourages people to address potential complaints informally. “In general, if you have a concern about a particular school site, it is almost always best to raise that concern with the principal or vice-principal,” the complaint procedure web page reads. The page recommends reaching out to Tammy Rose, the Interim Manager of Student Services, in order to be put in contact with the appropriate person at the school site level.
“[The complaint form] really doesn’t help people understand how long is long enough to try to resolve something informally,” Goldstein said.
“The new policy really doesn’t clarify very well that it is up to the person who has the complaint to decide when they have had enough of the informal process, or if they don’t even want to engage in the informal process entirely.”
Goldstein stated her second concern with the updated complaint process is that “some problems are more urgent than others.” She referred to cases that require immediate action or help, giving an example of a “high school counselor that continued to see students still after a student complained of sexual assault.”
Currently, BUSD has up to sixty days to investigate, write a determination letter, and come to a decision on what to do about a complaint issued.
“That’s a killer,” Goldstein said. “If you’ve got a problem and a teacher is making yourself miserable, sixty days is far too long.”
During these stagnant two months, an issue could become much worse, continue to occur, or those who the complaint is directed at could find ways to work around the complaint, Goldstein explained.
Goldstein stated that she believes the complaint form is not easily accessible and difficult to fill out for someone who recently faced a traumatic experience.
“It is hard for someone [who faced something traumatic] to keep thinking clearly and follow all of the various steps that a form requires,” Heidi says.
In order for a complaint form to be filed, one must access the document on the BUSD website, print it out, fill out all necessary questions, and then get the form to the district’s building in West Berkeley.
“For people who have limited resources, and for those who English is not their first language, this is just not a friendly process,” Goldstein said. Goldstein believes that easy access and usage of the complaint form is nonexistent right now.