Our goal is to provide a positive and productive culture between all of our community members.

The following policies apply to grievances, including complaints, concerns, or conflicts, of any type.

• LSE's administration and School Board are committed to addressing and resolving grievances in a timely and efficient manner. The Board places great trust in its faculty and administrators to manage the affairs of the school and to serve our school community. This grievance process should be used only for complaints, concerns, or conflicts that require the attention of the School Director or the Board, and not for simple disagreements that can be managed informally often on an individual basis. The Board will not typically review grievances based on the discretionary day-to-day decision-making or good faith judgment calls made by faculty or administrators, unless there is clear evidence of misconduct or a need to address a substantial issue.

 Employees may also utilize this process to dispute work related decisions by administration, like non-renewals or other work related concerns, complaints or conflicts.

Please follow these informal steps before filing a formal grievance:

I.    Please make every attempt to address issues and concerns with those most directly involved.

II.   If you are a parent and you have a specific classroom or academic issue,  please begin to resolve the issue with your child’s teacher.  

III.  If you are a parent with a broader, school-wide issue, please begin to resolve the issue with a school administrator.

IV.  If you are an employee, please work towards resolving the issue with the co-worker(s) with whom you have the issue, or with your direct supervisor if it is a broader, school-wide issue.

IV.   If your issue has not been resolved after following the above stated steps with the person directly involved, and that person is not a supervisor, then please notify the supervisor who has oversight responsibilities of your complaint, concern, or conflict to attempt resolution.

V.   If your attempts to resolve the complaint, concern, or conflict informally by addressing the issue with those directly involved (or with a supervisor) does not produce a satisfactory result, and the issue is substantial, then you may file a formal grievance by following these steps:

      a.   Complete a Grievance Form (available on the school’s website or in the front office) – This includes providing a brief summary of the issue; informal steps that were taken to resolve it, including discussions with those directly involved, the outcome of those attempts, the reasons why you were not satisfied with the outcome, a citation to any laws and/or policies that you believe were violated, and what you are requesting to be reviewed and/or changed regarding the outcome.

     b.    If your Grievance includes an issue in which the Executive Director is directly involved or in which the Executive Director has already rendered a final decision, then please complete a Grievance Form using the school's website under the School Board tab.  

     c.   Executive Director Review – The Executive Director or a designee, upon receipt of the Grievance, will:
            i.  Review and reply in writing to the grievant within three working days, or request a meeting.
            ii. Maintain the right to consult with others regarding the issue and/or invite others to any meeting scheduled to discuss the issue.

     d.   School Director Decision – Within ten working days of the date the Grievance Form has been submitted, the Executive Director or a designee will provide a written decision and/or a planned course of action regarding the Grievance to the grievant.

     e.   School Board Review – If the grievant is not satisfied with the Executive Director or designee’s decision or planned course of action:
           i.  The grievant may request that the Grievance be submitted for review by the Board within five working days.
           ii.  If the grievant requests such Board review described above, the Executive Director or designee will forward all documentation, including the original Grievance Form, any notes or summaries of meetings or actions taken, the Executive Director or designee’s final written decision or planned course of action, and any other relevant information to the Board.
         iii. Board Members may request an additional statement from the grievant, as well as any other information it deems relevant.
         iv. The Board President, or Vice President in the President’s absence, may appoint an individual to be a mediator to work with the Executive Director and grievant on a resolution before the Board determines if it wants to review the grievance.
          v. The Board President, or Vice President in the absence of the President, will determine whether or not to include the request on the agenda of the School Board’s next meeting. An individual Board Member can make a motion to have it added to agenda during the board’s next meeting, and it will be added with a requisite vote of the majority, following regular procedures.
         vi. At all stages of this process Board members will take care to preserve expectations of privacy, including avoidance of public references to specific individuals or incidents.
        vii.Board members may call an executive session to discuss Grievances, for which an executive session is allowed. If the grievance involves a specific employee, then that employee will be informed by the Board President, or Vice President in the President’s absence, before the meeting at which the issue may be discussed, and will be asked if he or she wants the discussion to happen during an open Board session instead of during an executive Board session. If the Board President or any member plans to add the grievance to a board agenda, then the grievant will be informed before the meeting that the issue will be discussed. If the Grievance is not reviewed at the next regular meeting following receipt of the request to review, it will be deemed resolved and the decision or planned course of action articulated by the Executive Director will be final, unless or until there is a change in circumstances.

VI . School Board’s Decision
      a.  Any decision by the Board at the conclusion of considering a Grievance, or a decision not to review a Grievance, will be final and the matter will be considered resolved. Any future consideration of the matter will require a change in circumstances and the grievant will be required to initiate the process from the beginning.
      b.  Any Grievance Form filed on a matter for which there has not been a change in circumstances, and has been considered resolved, may be ignored or disposed of with a response from the Executive Director that the matter is deemed resolved.