Procedures for complaints concerning district employees are specified in district regulation AR 1312.1.  Procedures for complaints concerning instructional materials are provided in district regulation AR 1312.2 and can be submitted using the linked form:

DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETION OF FORM BCIA 8572 All Penal Code (PC) references are located in Article 2.5 of the California PC. This article is known as the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA). The provisions of CANRA may be viewed at: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes.xhtml (specify “Penal Code” and search for sections 11164-11174.3). A mandated reporter must complete and submit form BCIA 8572 even if some of the requested information is not known. (PC section 11167(a).) 

You may contact the Solano County Child Welfare hotline at 1-800-544-8696 (24/7) anytime you have a question or report to be made and the form can be found here: Suspected Child Abuse Report

Communication with the school is a large component of a student’s education and continual improvement of our instructional practices. We encourage students to be self-advocates during their high school years. Below is a general guide for effective communication involving emails,  phone calls, and face-to-face meetings.

In order to ensure a successful exchange of information, it is important that all parties follow a few key principles:

Maintain Respectful and Open Communication

• Always use a respectful and polite tone. Request, don’t demand.
• Be ready not just to provide information, but to listen to teacher/staff observations and perspectives.
• Enter the exchange with an open mind and assume best intentions.
• Be prepared to work collaboratively to solve problems.

Confidentiality

• Recognize that confidentiality may limit information that can be shared, including consequences for other students’ behaviors.

Time to Respond to Communications

• Teachers will make every effort to respond as soon as possible to parent communications, with the understanding that the teaching day sometimes precludes immediate responses.
• Teachers and staff may need some time to collect needed information before responding.

Whom to Contact

• Most communications of academic concerns should be directed first to the teacher.  Non-academic concerns should be directed to the appropriate counselor or Assistant Principal.
• If you have communicated with the teacher and the issue has not been addressed to your satisfaction, then contact your Assistant Principal.

Please recognize that it is both the policy and the value of our district that we operate with openness, collaboration and the shared best interest for every student.

District programs, activities, and practices shall be free from discrimination, harassment, intimidation, bullying against an individual or group based on race, color, ancestry, nationality, national origin, immigration status, ethnic group identification, ethnicity, age, religion, marital status, pregnancy, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, or related recovery, parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or genetic information; a perception of one or more of such characteristics; or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.

The Title IX coordinator for BUSD is the Director of Student Services, Jon Ovick Ed. D.. He can be reached by emailing TitleIX@beniciaunified.org or calling 707-747-8300 ext. 1240.

The Governing Board desires to provide a safe school environment that allows all students equal access and opportunities in the district’s academic, extracurricular, and other educational support programs, services, and activities. The Board prohibits, at any district school or school activity, discrimination, including harassment, intimidation, and bullying, targeted at any student by anyone, based on the student’s actual or perceived race, color, ancestry, nationality, national origin, immigration status, ethnic group identification, ethnicity, age, religion, marital status, pregnancy, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, or related recovery, parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or genetic information, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.

For more information on Title IX Sex Discrimination please click HERE.

The Benicia Unified School District has primary responsibility to ensure compliance with state and federal laws and regulations governing educational programs.  The District’s Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP) are used to investigate and seek to resolve any complaints alleging:

1. Failure to comply with state or federal laws regarding adult basic education, consolidated categorical aid programs, migrant education, vocational education, child care and development programs, child nutrition programs and special education programs and the development and adoption of a school safety plan;
2. Unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying based on actual or perceived characteristics of race or ethnicity, color, ancestry, nationality, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, religion, marital or parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or genetic information, or any other characteristic identified in Education Code 200 or 220, Penal Code 422.55, or Government Code 11135, or based on association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.
3. Failure to comply with the prohibition against requiring unlawful students to pay fees, deposits, or other charges for participation in educational activities.

Complaints will be investigated and resolved within 60 days of the District’s receipt of the complaint.  Complaints alleging discrimination must be filed within six (6) months from alleged occurrence or when knowledge was first obtained.

The District’s Uniform Complaint Annual Notice and Procedures are specified in Board Policy BP 1312.3 and Administrative Regulation AR 1312.3 are also available free of charge in the BUSD Office of Human Resources, and at each school office as well as AR 5145.3 Nondiscrimination/Harassment.

The Governing Board has designated individuals as the District Compliance Officer/Title IX Coordinators, District Section 504/ADA Coordinator, and school site coordinators, to receive and investigate complaints and to ensure district compliance with law.

The Governing Board recognizes that the district has primary responsibility for ensuring that it complies with state and federal laws and regulations governing educational programs. The district shall investigate and seek to resolve complaints at the local level.

This complaint procedure pertains to certain complaints about instructional materials, emergency or urgent facilities conditions that pose a threat to the health and safety of pupils or staff, and teacher vacancies or misassignments in accordance with Education Code Section 35186. State law requires notices be posted in each classroom in the district and complaint forms be available at each school regarding whether

1. there are sufficient textbooks and instructional materials available
2. school facilities are clean, safe, and maintained in good repair
3. or teacher vacancies exist or teachers are misassigned at the school

A complaint about any of these issues is called a “Williams” complaint after the name of a statewide lawsuit alleging inadequacies in schools.  Parents/Guardians should contact their student’s school principal if the notice is not posted or to obtain a complaint form to file a formal Williams complaint AR 1312.4.

The Governing Board uses a comprehensive process to adopt district instructional materials that is based on selection criteria established by law and Board policy and includes opportunities for the involvement of parents/guardians and community members. Complaints concerning the content or use of instructional materials, including textbooks, supplementary instructional materials, library materials, or other instructional materials and equipment, shall be properly and fairly considered using established complaint procedures.

For More information regarding complaints concerning instructional materials please read the BP 1312.2 and the AR 1312.2.