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