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