SCHOOL DISTRICT
NO. 78 (FRASER-CASCADE)
BYLAW NO: 21 DATE: 1997-10-14 REVISED: 2002-04-23
2008-06-24
SUBJECT: STUDENT APPEALS
===============================================================================
A
student may appeal a decision of an employee of the school board which
significantly affects the education, health or safety of the student. The
failure of an employee to make a decision shall be deemed to be a decision for
the purpose of bringing an appeal.
When an
employee of the
A
student is entitled to continue to receive an educational program during a
period of suspension.
The
Board of Education expects that:
-
the Student Appeals Bylaw #21, be accessible to
all persons
-
employees make every effort to review decisions at
the classroom level with those most involved
-
there be no reprisals against student/parents exercising
their right to appeal.
1. NOTICE
OF APPEAL
Formal appeals
to the school board must be commenced by a written Notice of Appeal which shall
state:
1.1 The
name and address of the student and/or parent or guardian bringing the appeal
and, where the parent or guardian is initiating the appeal on behalf of the
student, the name of the student;
1.2 The
current placement of the student (i.e. school, grade and homeroom teacher);
1.3 The
decision which is being appealed and the date the student and/or parent or
guardian bringing the appeal was informed of the decision;
1.4 The
name of the school board employee(s) who made the decision being appealed;
1.5 The
grounds for the appeal and the relief sought.
Bylaw
#21 – Student Appeals Page
2
2. PROTOCOL
2.1 The
board or its designate may direct the student and/or parent or guardian
bringing the appeal to first discuss the decision with the teacher or staff
member who made the decision under appeal, the principal of the school in which
the student is enrolled, and/or a district person responsible for that school.
2.2 Where discussions directed under Section 2.1
do not resolve the appeal, the superintendent or designate will prepare a
report for the school board concerning the matter and will provide a copy to
the student and/or parent or guardian bringing the appeal.
3. DECISION BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
3.1 The
board may make any interim decision it considers necessary pending the
disposition of the appeal.
3.2 In
attempting to resolve disputes the Board of Education will consider the merits
and demerits of early intervention and/or mediation in every case and make
recommendations to this end if they so decide.
3.3 The decision of the board shall be in
writing and the board shall promptly notify the
student and/or parent or guardian
bringing the appeal of its decision.
3.4 The decision of the board shall be
made and communicated within 45 days from receipt of the appeal.
4. SPECIFIC
REQUIREMENTS OF THE APPEAL
4.1 The school board may refuse to hear
an appeal where:
4.1.1
the student and/or parent or guardian has refused or neglected to discuss the
decision under appeal with the person(s)
directed by the school board or its designate; or
4.1.2 the decision does not significantly
affect the education, health or safety of the student and therefore does not fall within the scope of appeals as per
section 11 of the School
Act.
4.2 The school board may consider an
appeal notwithstanding any defect in form or other
technical irregularity.
Bylaw
#21 – Student Appeals Page
3
5. SCOPE
OF APPEALS
The scope
of appeals is limited to decisions that are deemed to significantly affect the
education, health or safety of a student and fall within one or more of the
following criteria:
5.1
expulsions or suspensions from an educational
program;
5.2 disciplinary
measures that require a student to complete all or part of an educational
program by distributed learning if the program, space and facilities exist in
the district in a non-distributed learning format;
5.3 a student is not provided with an individual
education plan (IEP);
5.4 a
parent or student is not consulted with on the placement of a student with
special needs in an educational program, or the preparation of the student’s
IEP;
5.5 a
complaint by a student or parent related to
intimidation/bullying/harassment/threat or violence by another student;
5.6 the
exclusion of a student from school due to risks to the health or welfare of
other students.
6. PROCEDURE
6.1 The board chairperson
should ensure that all parties concerned have received
information pertinent to the
appeal.
6.2 Where
a decision of an employee is being appealed to the Board of Education, the
appellant may be represented by an advocate of her/his choice.
6.3 The
board will listen to the appellants as they present their concerns. The
presentation should be allowed to proceed uninterrupted to allow the appellants
to develop their arguments.
6.4 At the
end of the presentation, the board will ask questions for clarification.
Questions should be objective and to the point. Leading questions should not be
asked.
6.5 The
representatives of the school will then be given an opportunity to present
their side of the issue, giving reasons for their decision.
6.6
At the conclusion of this presentation, the board
will once again ask questions for clarification.
6.7 The
chairperson of the board will then invite the parties involved to ask questions
of each other for clarification. Questions should be neither personal nor
judgmental.
Bylaw
#21 – Student Appeals Page
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6.8 The board will have one more opportunity to
question either party for the purposes of
clarification.
6.9 The
parties involved will then be asked to leave. The board will meet in camera to
rule on the matter. It must decide whether to uphold the school's decision, to
increase or decrease the extent of the school's decision, or to set the
decision aside.
6.10 The decision of the board will be
communicated to the parties concerned by the board chairperson as soon as
possible.
6.11 Effective March 3, 2008, the decision of the
board may be appealed under Section 11 of the
School Act to a Superintendent of
Achievement. A Notice of Appeal form to the
Student Appeals Branch, Victoria,
will be provided to the appellant.
Bylaw 21 - Student Appeals
SCHOOL DISTRICT
NO. 78 (FRASER-CASCADE)
NOTICE OF
APPEAL
Attached
is school district appeals procedure.
Appellants should read this information carefully before bringing an
appeal.
1. Information
about the person(s) bringing the appeal.
Name of
student: (first)______________________ (last)
______________________
Student
address: (if different from parent)
(street)
_________________________________________________
(postal
code) ________________ (phone) ____________________
Student
birthdate: (year) ________ (month) _____ (day) _____
Student
placement: (school) ____________________________ (grade)
____________
(homeroom
teacher) _______________________________________
Parent name: (first)
______________________ (last)
______________________
Parent address: (street)
_________________________________________________
(postal
code) ________________ (phone)
____________________
2. Information
about the employee(s) involved.
List
the employee(s) whose decision is being appealed.
Employee name Employee position/job
________________________________ ________________________________
________________________________ ________________________________
________________________________ ________________________________
List the employee(s) with whom you have consulted about the
decision.
Employee name Employee
position/job
________________________________ ________________________________
________________________________ ________________________________
________________________________ ________________________________
see over page ...............
Bylaw 21 -
Student Appeals
APPENDIX A
SCHOOL DISTRICT NO.
78 (FRASER-CASCADE)
NOTICE OF
APPEAL
3. Information
about the decision being appealed.
Date you were informed of the decision:
__________________________________________
Describe the decision:
________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
How does your appeal fit within the Scope of Appeals as per
Section 5?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Suggest a solution to the problem which would satisfy
you:
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
________________________________ ________________________________
Signature
of the parent Date appeal
submitted
Bylaw 21 - Student Appeals
APPENDIX B
SCHOOL DISTRICT NO.
78 (FRASER-CASCADE)
NOTICE OF
APPEAL
COMPOSITION OF
THE REVIEW COMMITTEE
The Review Committee will consist of:
1. the
Superintendent of Schools or his/her designate; and
2. two
administrative officers not involved in the case under review; or
3. an
administrative officer and a non-educational supervisor not involved in the
case under review.
FUNCTION OF
THE REVIEW COMMITTEE
It will be the function of the Review Committee to:
1. hear all
appeals brought under Section 11 of the School
Act and to uphold, alter, or revoke
employee decisions under appeal;
2. review all
referred student suspensions of 5-10 days and to uphold, alter, or revoke such
suspensions;
3. review, and
if appropriate, determine the educational program to be made available to
students suspended for 5-10 days as in 2 above; and
4. report in
writing decisions of the committee to students and parents of students affected
by such decisions with copies to the employee(s) and to the supervisor(s)
involved in the case.