The most diverse house at the high school, with the highest rate of minority students, is the only house that did not receive any school district funding this year for any field trips and who has not been able to go on a single college visit. Is a college visit a form of vocational education and if yes, do I follow the complaint process listed below or is another process more appropriate? Would the 180 day window start from the day I received the field trip information at the high school from Mr. Comley?
THank you in advance Mr. Ely for any suggestions or information you can provide for what steps I should take as a parent to formally complain.
Who Can File a Discrimination Complaint
Anyone who believes that an education institution that receives federal financial assistance has discriminated against someone on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability or age, or who believes that a public elementary or secondary school, or state or local education agency has violated the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act, may file a complaint. The person or organization filing the complaint need not be a victim of the alleged discrimination but may complain on behalf of another person or group.
Timeliness
A complaint must be filed within 180 calendar days of the date of the alleged discrimination, unless the time for filing is extended by OCR for good cause.
Institutional Grievance Procedures
Prior to filing a complaint with OCR against an institution, a potential complainant may want to find out about the institution’s grievance process and use that process to have the complaint resolved. However, a complainant is not required by law to use the institutional grievance process before filing a complaint with OCR. If a complainant uses an institutional grievance process and also chooses to file the complaint with OCR, the complaint must be filed with OCR within 60 days after the last act of the institutional grievance process.
How to File an Online Complaint
Complainants wishing to file a complaint may do so by:
Mail or Facsimile: Complainants may mail or send by facsimile a letter or use the OCR’s Discrimination Complaint Form available from one of OCR’s enforcement offices (see the list of OCR’s offices in this brochure). In your correspondence, please include:
The complainant’s name, address and, if possible (although not required), a telephone number where the complainant may be reached during business hours;
Information about the person(s) or class of persons injured by the alleged discriminatory act(s) (names of the injured person(s) are not required);
The name and location of the institution that committed the alleged discriminatory act(s); and
A description of the alleged discriminatory act(s) in sufficient detail to enable OCR to understand what occurred, when it occurred, and the basis for the alleged discrimination (race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age or the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act).
E-mail: Complainants may file a complaint, using the following e-mail address: ocr@ed.gov. (Use the same procedures as above.)
Online: Complainants may file a complaint with OCR using OCR’s electronic complaint form at the following Web site: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintintro.html.
For those without current e-mail accounts, Internet access may be freely available from your local public library, and free e-mail accounts are available from several large providers.
Note: A recipient of federal financial assistance may not retaliate against any person who has made a complaint, testified, assisted or participated in any manner in an investigation or proceeding under the laws listed on the first page of this brochure.
Where to Write (see Note)
Headquarters
Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20202-1100
(202) 245-6800; 1-800-421-3481
Facsimile: (202) 245-6840
TDD: (877) 521-2172
Email: OCR@ed.gov
Web: http://www.ed.gov/ocr
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