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.
Categories
Voice
Website
Hours
M Th, 9:30am-5:30pm Tu W, 8am-6pm.
Application process
Call for information or to schedule an appointment with an ombudsman for consultation. Visit the website for more information and free publications.
Eligibility
Parents, legal guardians, family members or students enrolled or eligible to be enrolled in the K-12 public school system in Washington state.
Fee
None.
Languages
Hawaiian
Laomong
Pashto
Amharic
Waray
Spanish
Lao
Savji
Braille
Toishanese
Wolof
Ilocano
Thai
Polish
Sennheiser hearing assistance devices
American Sign Language
French
Indonesian
Mandarin
Czech
Vietnamese
Cantonese
Hakka
Cebuano
Fujianese
Asian languages
Bulgarian
Hindi
Bengali
Tigrigna
Cham
Afghan
Tongan
Tamil
Urdu
Xhosa
Native American languages
Dholuo
Hmong
Armenian
Swahili
Hungarian
Mongolian
Swedish
Malay
Punjabi
Interpreter services
Shanghainese
Greek
Tagalog
Dutch
Gikuyu
Telugu
Khmu
Pangasinan
Serbian
Bicol
Arabic
Eritrean
Oromo
Cambodian
Korean
Serbo-Croatian
Farsi
Karenni
Marshallese
Dari
Russian
Multi-lingual materials
Samoan
Zomi
Kannada
Kurdi
Fijian
Bosnian
Taiwanese
Nepali
Croatian
Filipino
Marathi
Khmer
Latvian
Hebrew
Gujarati
Portuguese
German
Italian
Romanian
Burmese
Audio materials
Teochew
Somali
Turkish
Japanese
Laotian
Bhutanese
Ukrainian
Mon
Moldavian
Oromiffa
Large-print materials
Mien
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