Conflict Resolution offered by Office of the Education Ombuds
Helps resolve disputes, complaints and conflict between families and schools through facilitation. Acts as a confidential, neutral third party not associated with the public school system. Promotes school-family partnerships and provides information about the education system and referrals to education-related resources. Helps parents concerned about a child being bullied at school. Provides workshops and presentations and publishes materials designed to help families understand and navigate the K-12 education system. Publications can be downloaded from the website or mailed. Publications are translated into several languages. The Education Ombudsman does not help with issues regarding: - Elected officials (such as school board members) - Private schools - Private organizations or businesses - Preschools, colleges and universities Does not have the authority to force a school or school district to take a specific course of action and cannot discipline or terminate school or school district employees. Does not provide legal advice or services.
Physical Address
Hours
M Th, 9:30am-5:30pm Tu W, 8am-6pm.
Voice
Website
Application process
Call for information or to schedule an appointment with an ombudsman for consultation. Visit the website for more information and free publications.
Fee
None.
Eligibility
Parents, legal guardians, family members or students enrolled or eligible to be enrolled in the K-12 public school system in Washington state.
Languages
Laotian
Taiwanese
Malay
Bhutanese
Tigrigna
Toishanese
Moldavian
Oromiffa
Indonesian
Dholuo
Large-print materials
Marathi
Ukrainian
Mandarin
Somali
Bulgarian
Urdu
Tamil
Hmong
Greek
Gikuyu
Polish
Laomong
Japanese
Swahili
Kannada
Wolof
Spanish
Kurdi
Cantonese
Mongolian
Native American languages
Interpreter services
Braille
Hindi
Hakka
Karenni
Czech
Audio materials
Fijian
Waray
Telugu
Armenian
Vietnamese
Hawaiian
Serbian
Oromo
Eritrean
Xhosa
Bicol
Swedish
Pashto
French
Teochew
Farsi
Punjabi
Pangasinan
Gujarati
Serbo-Croatian
Arabic
Nepali
Afghan
Turkish
Dutch
Portuguese
Mien
Khmu
German
Lao
Tagalog
Cham
Amharic
Thai
Zomi
Bosnian
Cebuano
Burmese
Hungarian
Multi-lingual materials
Dari
Samoan
Croatian
Russian
Khmer
Italian
Hebrew
Fujianese
Marshallese
Cambodian
Mon
Tongan
American Sign Language
Filipino
Korean
Latvian
Romanian
Asian languages
Shanghainese
Savji
Sennheiser hearing assistance devices
Ilocano
Bengali
Agency info
Office of the Education Ombuds
Listens to concerns and address questions about the K-12 public education system; Uses informal conflict resolution tools to support collaborative problem-solving and promote education justice; Provides coaching, facilitation, and training about family and community engagement and systems advocacy; Collects data and identifies trends to guide our education policy recommendations. OEO assists anyone with questions or concerns about Washington’s K-12 public schools by providing information, referrals, toolkits, and other resources. OEO’s legislative mission is to reduce opportunity gaps. OEO's strategic plan priorities concentrate on education justice, especially for communities most affected by COVID-19. OEO is focusing its limited conflict resolution resources, such as informal mediation and coaching, on K-12 students who are: • Out of school, including students with disabilities receiving partial school days • People of color, Black, or indigenous • Experiencing homelessness • In kinship or foster care • Involved with the juvenile justice or juvenile rehabilitation systems • Immigrant, refugee, asylee, or migrant, or students or families whose primary language(s) is not English, or • Receiving Wraparound with Intensive Services (WISe) or Children’s Long Term Inpatient Programs (CLIP) supports