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