This is super lengthy, but it includes the final information regarding our complaint with Leander ISD and I wanted to do a good job of relaying the results of the complaint process...
Just to briefly explain the complaint process...
If you have a complaint with the school district you're supposed to try to solve it informally through conferences with administration at the school (which we did). If relief is not given at that point you can issue a formal complaint with the school district, as long as it is within 15 business days from the date of the incident which gave rise to your complaint. In other words, don't spend too long trying to informally solve your complaint or you will miss out on the window of time you have to submit a complaint.
LEVEL I
- Level I complaint - submitted to the Principal at the school
(They have 10 days to respond to set up a Level I conference)
- Level I conference - with Principal at the school
(They have 10 days to respond with their Level I response)
- Level I response - Principal's response to your formal complaint
(You have 10 days to appeal and file the next level of complaint)
LEVEL II
- Level II complaint - submit to the Superintendent at Central Administration
(They have 10 days to respond to set up a Level II conference)
- Level II conference - with Superintendent or representative
(They have 10 days to respond with their Level II response)
- Level II response - Superintendent's/representative's response to your complaint
(You have 10 days to appeal and file the next level of complaint)
LEVEL III
- Level III complaint - submit to the School Board
(They have 10 days to respond to set up a Level III conference)
- Level III conference - held during School Board meeting
(They have 10 days to respond with their Level III response)
- Level III response - School Board's response to your complaint
(You have 10 days to appeal with the School Board)
After receiving our Level I response from the Principal, I was in complete shock. Her response was so unethical and clearly wrong that I couldn't believe she had put it in writing.
At this point we chose to file a Level II complaint. The school district put me in contact with one of their paralegals to get the Level II paperwork. I asked the paralegal what to do, since we now had more complaints to add, given the Level I response from the Principal. I told her that I knew that only the complaints brought up during the Level I complaint could be addressed in the Level II and Level III complaints. I asked her what to do since our new/additional complaints were regarding the response to our Level I complaint. She told me that all of the complaints build upon each other and that we should just write our complaints with the Level I response in our Level II complaint.
We filed our Level II complaint... it was 30 pages long. It included lots of research to help LISD see where things needed to change.
The Superintendent would not meet with us and sent someone else in his place for our Level II conference.
I write this all down so you can see the hoops that we have jumped through in order to try to get Leander ISD to do the right thing.
Fast forward to today... We have now received our Level II response.
The response was not too surprising and only confirmed what I was hoping wasn't true. After receiving the response from Central Administration we have decided to NOT go forward in the complaint process to meet with the school board.
It has become so alarmingly clear that no matter how much time we invest in trying to protect other people's children that nothing will come of all of our time and effort.
In the response to our Level II complaint and conference we were told that everything we brought up in our Level II complaint was basically null and void, since we did not bring it up in our Level I complaint. The problem is... the only reason I brought up the new complaints (regarding the Level I response) in the Level II complaint was because the paralegal who works for LISD told me to do so. She told me that the complaints built upon each other, so I went forward in the manner she told me to. But it turns out, that all of the time I spent writing the 30 pages for our Level II complaint will yield nothing because we did not file a Level I complaint including those issues. Those complaints will never be heard. If we had wanted them to be heard, we would have had to file a NEW Level I complaint, including those issues. We were told incorrectly what to do by the paralegal, and therefore have missed the 15 day period to file a new Level I complaint and therefore start the process over.
While battling the wrongs that were done by Principal and LISD with this entire situation, we have done everything that LISD has asked us to do and followed all of their protocols. We have focused on fighting a truly unethical, and immoral organization. But at this point, I can no longer invest my energy in fighting the darkness.
We all have a finite amount of energy, and I choose to focus on the light and good in my life. As much as I wanted LISD to do the right thing, they will not. I am so sorry to you who are the parents of the children we were fighting for. We fought as long as we could, but for now, the fact that my children are safe, has to be enough for me.
All we wanted were protocols changed, to protect children, and for LISD to realize that they have a major problem and to work on solving that problem. Problem is, LISD does not care that it has problems. And NOTHING that happens to your child, while in their care, will be bad enough for LISD to improve their policies to better protect your children.
I have spoken to so many of you, and I appreciate all of your support and listening ears. It really, truly helped me to not feel alone.
We have been so blessed by this entire situation. I will be forever grateful for all of the knowledge we have, and the blessing we have of homeschooling our kiddos. Homeschooling has honestly been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had being a mother, and I'm so excited for the rest of our journey.
And for those of you who think we're crazy for homeschooling. I appreciate that. Because sometimes I do feel crazy that we're doing this. :)
Just to briefly explain the complaint process...
If you have a complaint with the school district you're supposed to try to solve it informally through conferences with administration at the school (which we did). If relief is not given at that point you can issue a formal complaint with the school district, as long as it is within 15 business days from the date of the incident which gave rise to your complaint. In other words, don't spend too long trying to informally solve your complaint or you will miss out on the window of time you have to submit a complaint.
LEVEL I
- Level I complaint - submitted to the Principal at the school
(They have 10 days to respond to set up a Level I conference)
- Level I conference - with Principal at the school
(They have 10 days to respond with their Level I response)
- Level I response - Principal's response to your formal complaint
(You have 10 days to appeal and file the next level of complaint)
LEVEL II
- Level II complaint - submit to the Superintendent at Central Administration
(They have 10 days to respond to set up a Level II conference)
- Level II conference - with Superintendent or representative
(They have 10 days to respond with their Level II response)
- Level II response - Superintendent's/representative's response to your complaint
(You have 10 days to appeal and file the next level of complaint)
LEVEL III
- Level III complaint - submit to the School Board
(They have 10 days to respond to set up a Level III conference)
- Level III conference - held during School Board meeting
(They have 10 days to respond with their Level III response)
- Level III response - School Board's response to your complaint
(You have 10 days to appeal with the School Board)
After receiving our Level I response from the Principal, I was in complete shock. Her response was so unethical and clearly wrong that I couldn't believe she had put it in writing.
At this point we chose to file a Level II complaint. The school district put me in contact with one of their paralegals to get the Level II paperwork. I asked the paralegal what to do, since we now had more complaints to add, given the Level I response from the Principal. I told her that I knew that only the complaints brought up during the Level I complaint could be addressed in the Level II and Level III complaints. I asked her what to do since our new/additional complaints were regarding the response to our Level I complaint. She told me that all of the complaints build upon each other and that we should just write our complaints with the Level I response in our Level II complaint.
We filed our Level II complaint... it was 30 pages long. It included lots of research to help LISD see where things needed to change.
The Superintendent would not meet with us and sent someone else in his place for our Level II conference.
I write this all down so you can see the hoops that we have jumped through in order to try to get Leander ISD to do the right thing.
Fast forward to today... We have now received our Level II response.
The response was not too surprising and only confirmed what I was hoping wasn't true. After receiving the response from Central Administration we have decided to NOT go forward in the complaint process to meet with the school board.
It has become so alarmingly clear that no matter how much time we invest in trying to protect other people's children that nothing will come of all of our time and effort.
In the response to our Level II complaint and conference we were told that everything we brought up in our Level II complaint was basically null and void, since we did not bring it up in our Level I complaint. The problem is... the only reason I brought up the new complaints (regarding the Level I response) in the Level II complaint was because the paralegal who works for LISD told me to do so. She told me that the complaints built upon each other, so I went forward in the manner she told me to. But it turns out, that all of the time I spent writing the 30 pages for our Level II complaint will yield nothing because we did not file a Level I complaint including those issues. Those complaints will never be heard. If we had wanted them to be heard, we would have had to file a NEW Level I complaint, including those issues. We were told incorrectly what to do by the paralegal, and therefore have missed the 15 day period to file a new Level I complaint and therefore start the process over.
While battling the wrongs that were done by Principal and LISD with this entire situation, we have done everything that LISD has asked us to do and followed all of their protocols. We have focused on fighting a truly unethical, and immoral organization. But at this point, I can no longer invest my energy in fighting the darkness.
We all have a finite amount of energy, and I choose to focus on the light and good in my life. As much as I wanted LISD to do the right thing, they will not. I am so sorry to you who are the parents of the children we were fighting for. We fought as long as we could, but for now, the fact that my children are safe, has to be enough for me.
All we wanted were protocols changed, to protect children, and for LISD to realize that they have a major problem and to work on solving that problem. Problem is, LISD does not care that it has problems. And NOTHING that happens to your child, while in their care, will be bad enough for LISD to improve their policies to better protect your children.
I have spoken to so many of you, and I appreciate all of your support and listening ears. It really, truly helped me to not feel alone.
We have been so blessed by this entire situation. I will be forever grateful for all of the knowledge we have, and the blessing we have of homeschooling our kiddos. Homeschooling has honestly been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had being a mother, and I'm so excited for the rest of our journey.
And for those of you who think we're crazy for homeschooling. I appreciate that. Because sometimes I do feel crazy that we're doing this. :)