§ 20-2-989-8 — Establishment and contents of complaint policy

Local units of administration shall establish a complaint policy that shall include the following: (1) A statement that a complaint by the certified employee at the initial level shall be in writing and shall clearly state the intent of the employee to access the complaints policy. All certified employees shall request in writing successive levels of review; (2) A method and time frame for filing complaints and appeals, including successive levels of appeal from the complainant's immediate supervisor to the central office administrator to the local unit of administration, provided that the complainant shall be entitled to file a complaint within ten days from the most recent incident upon which the complaint is based, and provided that the complainant shall have a minimum of ten days to file an appeal at any level up to and including the local unit of administration, and provided that the total time frame shall not exceed 60 days from the initiation of the complaint until notification to the complainant of the decision rendered by the local unit of administration; (3) A statement setting forth the manner in which notice of the initial hearing and appeals shall be given; (4) A statement that the complainant shall be entitled to an opportunity to be heard, to present relevant evidence, and to examine witnesses at each level; (5) A provision whereby the complainant is entitled to the presence of an individual of his or her choice to assist in the presentation of the complaint to the central office administrator and at the local unit of administration level. The policy shall also include a provision whereby the presence of any individual other than the complainant and the administrator at any lower level is specifically prohibited. At the local unit of administration level nothing shall prevent the local unit from having an attorney present to serve as the law officer who shall rule on issues of law and who shall not participate in the presentation of the case for the administrator or the complainant; (6) Provisions for keeping an accurate record of the proceedings at each level, requiring the proceedings to be recorded by mechanical means, preserving all evidence, and requiring that these be made available at all times to the parties involved but which provisions do not permit the presence of a third person at any level below the central office administrator or local unit of administration level; (7) A statement that the complainant cannot present additional evidence at each level of the complaint process unless it is submitted in writing by the complainant five days prior to the set date for the Level II and Level III hearing to the administrator presiding over the complaint. The board of the local unit of administration, when hearing an appeal from a prior complaint level, shall hear the complaint de novo; (8) A statement that each decision be made in writing and dated. Each decision shall contain findings of fact and reasons for the particular resolution reached. The decision reached at each complaint level shall be sent to the complainant by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery or hand delivered by a person designated by the central office administrator within 20 days of the decision; (9) A statement that any complaint not processed by the administrator or the local unit of administration within the time frames required by the local complaint procedure and this part shall be forwarded to the next level of the complaint procedure; (10) A provision that all costs and fees shall be borne by the party incurring them unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties involved, except that the cost of preparing and preserving the record of the proceedings shall be borne by the local board of education; and (11) A statement that a complainant shall not be the subject of any reprisal as a result of filing a complaint under this part. Should any reprisal occur, the complainant may refer the matter to the Professional Standards Commission.