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