Formal complaint against DCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find DCPS truly unresponsive all the way around. If you make a complaint to the central office, you must assume that they will simply forward it to the target of your complaint (e.g. principal) and then do nothing else. So your principal will know your grievance, and may take subtle action against your kid to persuade you to leave - You bad, bad trouble maker!

If the PTA won't help, your best bet in the interim is to just leave if the issue is too grave. But make the complaint to DCPS just for the record anyhow.

Then, I suggest you testify in the spring at the Council oversight hearing. I plan to do that. Hopefully a lot of angry parents will come to air their grievances publicly. The only way this culture is going to change is to be public, embarrass DCPS, and let all other parents know what is really going on. That's unfortunate, but true.

Actually, if you want a response from DCPS, you should follow the proper chain of command. If the principal isn't responsive, then you should contact the Instructional Superintendent for your child's school. You can find out the name of the Instructional Superintendent for your child's school on the the DCPS website.

[Anonymous]

Not the OP -- but if there is a complaint of longstanding bullying, does it make sense to first contact the instructional superintendent, or report bullying via the osse? Thank you for any advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find DCPS truly unresponsive all the way around. If you make a complaint to the central office, you must assume that they will simply forward it to the target of your complaint (e.g. principal) and then do nothing else. So your principal will know your grievance, and may take subtle action against your kid to persuade you to leave - You bad, bad trouble maker!

If the PTA won't help, your best bet in the interim is to just leave if the issue is too grave. But make the complaint to DCPS just for the record anyhow.

Then, I suggest you testify in the spring at the Council oversight hearing. I plan to do that. Hopefully a lot of angry parents will come to air their grievances publicly. The only way this culture is going to change is to be public, embarrass DCPS, and let all other parents know what is really going on. That's unfortunate, but true.

Actually, if you want a response from DCPS, you should follow the proper chain of command. If the principal isn't responsive, then you should contact the Instructional Superintendent for your child's school. You can find out the name of the Instructional Superintendent for your child's school on the the DCPS website.

Did that. The only thing that happens is your complaint is forwarded to the principal and there is no further response. So anyone here should know that it's DCPS' policy to simply forward your complaint to the principal where your kid is in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find DCPS truly unresponsive all the way around. If you make a complaint to the central office, you must assume that they will simply forward it to the target of your complaint (e.g. principal) and then do nothing else. So your principal will know your grievance, and may take subtle action against your kid to persuade you to leave - You bad, bad trouble maker!

If the PTA won't help, your best bet in the interim is to just leave if the issue is too grave. But make the complaint to DCPS just for the record anyhow.

Then, I suggest you testify in the spring at the Council oversight hearing. I plan to do that. Hopefully a lot of angry parents will come to air their grievances publicly. The only way this culture is going to change is to be public, embarrass DCPS, and let all other parents know what is really going on. That's unfortunate, but true.

Actually, if you want a response from DCPS, you should follow the proper chain of command. If the principal isn't responsive, then you should contact the Instructional Superintendent for your child's school. You can find out the name of the Instructional Superintendent for your child's school on the the DCPS website.

Did that. The only thing that happens is your complaint is forwarded to the principal and there is no further response. So anyone here should know that it's DCPS' policy to simply forward your complaint to the principal where your kid is in school.

Actually, it depends on what you're trying to achieve and the nature of your "complaint". A lot of times people don't get responses to complaints, because they don't specifically ask for something or some action along with venting.

Go back and carefully re-read your emails. Better yet, ask someone else to read it. Did you ask for anything or for a specific response in a certain time frame? Be as clear as possible about your objective and what you want DCPS to do/not do.

Just because they didn't respond, doesn't mean they didn't pay attention to your complaint. For all you know, central office is building a case to fire the principal. By forwarding your specific issue directly to the principal from their email, central has documented your complaint and can use it in a performance review. Principals have one-year contracts. Their direct managers are instructional superintendents. If you haven't contacted the one for your school, you should probably do so. But again, be specific about what you want and ask for a response.

http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/About+DCPS/Who+We+Are/Instructional+Superintendent

There's also the Office of the Ombudsman for Education which is independent from DCPS. Read the What to Expect section and decide if you want to submit a complaint online and seek some kind of resolution. Mostly they deal with discipline and special education issues. http://sboe.dc.gov/page/what-expect-08

Steps to take before speaking with a member of the Ombudsman Office:

Try to write down the relevant facts/points in writing;
Try to create a timeline of the events related to your complaint. Think about the facts related to the issue, identify school officials that you have spoken to about the problem. When possible, identify the names of the people involved, dates that you spoke to them, their positions/titles, and any interventions that have already been put into place by the school leadership team;
Have supporting documentation available to submit to the Office of the Ombudsman;
Identify the desired resolution to the problem;
Identify any perceived barriers to a resolution of the problem.
Please be prepared with notes for your first call with the Ombudsman or staff. S/he will listen to you, and will ask you some questions during the intake process which may include:
What is the situation affecting the student?
What are the main issues and concerns?
How does it affect the student?
What have you already done?
What can help improve the situation or solve the problem?
What are you willing to do to help in this situation, if applicable?

[Anonymous]

What do you want to happen after the complaint is filed? What is your goal? Inform, vent, fire, ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you want to happen after the complaint is filed? What is your goal? Inform, vent, fire, ...

Goal would be that someone acknowledged the complaint, read it, understood it, and is working to make things better. Simply forwarding a complaint to the principal and saying, "oh well, I pushed that along" or "whether you stay with DCPS or not is not my concern" is not exactly customer service and giving parents the warm fuzzies that things can get better - but that's exactly what the central DCPS office does. That's not earning a paycheck.

[Anonymous]

PP, what is your experience with that? Do you have a specific situation where this occured or do you just have empty allegations because you have some sort of stereotype of what a "central office worker" is like?

[Anonymous]

^^^^ I am have my own specific experience with the central office and I know another parent who had the very same experience. Forward your complaint to the principal and do nothing further, and then tell you whether you stay with DCPS or leave is on you. These aren't fabrications; they are substantiated.

[Anonymous]

I'd say if central office doesn't deal with the issue to escalate that as yet another problem up the chain at central office.

[Anonymous]

My experience with DCPS has been that Instructional Superintendents and above tend to support the principals. The massive ordeal at Watkins ES only gave Principal Clemens and AP Lawson slaps on the wrist. The complaints from teachers and parents went all the way to Kaya Henderson and still nothing happened. Everyone is still in place except the 18 staff members and the mass exodus of students who transferred to other schools. DCPS administrators tend to take the side of the principal.

All I can say is ..."Good luck with that!!"

[Anonymous]

The issues at Watkins went to Councilman Allen and Muriel Bowser.