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.
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
Bhutanese
Marathi
Hmong
Interpreter services
Khmu
Afghan
Filipino
Cantonese
Xhosa
Bulgarian
Amharic
Laomong
Swedish
Laotian
Urdu
Cebuano
Serbo-Croatian
Mongolian
Armenian
Latvian
Greek
Dutch
Kannada
Nepali
French
Cham
Farsi
Fujianese
Italian
Mandarin
Gujarati
Zomi
Burmese
Audio materials
Cambodian
Pangasinan
Czech
Somali
Hawaiian
Turkish
Marshallese
Native American languages
German
Dholuo
Russian
Serbian
Asian languages
Hungarian
Waray
Oromo
Braille
Tongan
Large-print materials
Sennheiser hearing assistance devices
Croatian
Arabic
Kurdi
Tigrigna
Punjabi
Indonesian
Hindi
Romanian
Samoan
Moldavian
Multi-lingual materials
Tagalog
Mon
Korean
Dari
Swahili
Khmer
Japanese
American Sign Language
Portuguese
Spanish
Bosnian
Hebrew
Shanghainese
Karenni
Tamil
Malay
Thai
Hakka
Toishanese
Ukrainian
Savji
Eritrean
Bicol
Mien
Vietnamese
Oromiffa
Fijian
Gikuyu
Lao
Teochew
Polish
Pashto
Ilocano
Telugu
Taiwanese
Wolof
Bengali
Service area
WA
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