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