If you believe you have been subjected to discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying, you should immediately contact the school principal and/or the appropriate District personnel, which you can find in the Title IX/IV Coordinators section in the sidebar.
Every student has a protected right to feel safe at school.
It is the right of all students to be free from discrimination from other students and adults at school.
Under Title VI, students have the federally-protected right to an education free from discrimination and harassment. It protects everyone participating in programs that receive federal funding from discrimination based on their race, color, or national origin. This protection extends to all federally-financed programs, including both public and non-public schools, and is therefore under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Education and is enforced by the Office for Civil Rights.
A few things to know about Title VI:
You may also file a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. For more information, visit the OCR Complaint Forms page, linked in the sidebar. The electronic complaint form for the Office for Civil Rights is available online or you can access the Discrimination Complaint Form as a PDF. You can find both of these in the sidebar.
San Francisco Office
Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Education
50 United Nations Plaza
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone: (415) 486-5555
Email: ocr.sanfrancisco@ed.gov
Fax: (415) 486-5570; TDD: (800) 877-8339
For information about how to file other types of complaints and the procedures for those complaints, please contact the appropriate District's Title IX coordinator.
Petaluma City Schools is committed to providing equal opportunity for all individuals in district programs and activities. District programs, activities, and practices shall be free from unlawful discrimination, including discrimination against an individual or group based on race, color, ancestry, nationality, national origin, immigration status, ethnic group identification, ethnicity, age, religion, marital status, pregnancy, or parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or genetic information; a perception of one or more of such characteristics; or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) is a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in all educational programs and activities, including athletic programs. No person shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity operated by the District. Title IX protects all participants in the District's educational programs and activities, including students, parents, employees, and job applicants. The District does not discriminate on the basis of sex. Discrimination on the basis of sex can include sexual harassment and sexual violence.
In addition to Title IX, the California Education Code prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in schools. (California Education Code §§ 220-221.1.) Other state and federal laws also prohibit discrimination and ensure equality in education.
Title IX information provided here applies to every school and site in the District.
You have the following rights under Title IX, to the extent applicable at the District. You have the right to receive equitable treatment and benefits in the provision of any of the following.
(The above is from California Education Code § 221.8.)
The District has a responsibility to respond promptly and effectively to sex-based discrimination, including sexual harassment and sexual violence. If the District knows or reasonably should know about sex discrimination, it must take action to eliminate the sex discrimination, prevent its recurrence, and address its effects. The District must resolve complaints of sex discrimination promptly and equitably. Information on filing a complaint alleging sex-based discrimination is below, including contact information for the District's Title IX Coordinators.
For more information specific to anti-discrimination in SCOE employment, please contact the Title IX Coordinator.
Accessibility Notice: All of the links below are to external websites and will open in a new window.
The District's Title IX Coordinator oversees compliance with Title IX requirements and promotes sex equity in District programs.
Dr. Lori Rhodes, Assistant Superintendent, Student Services
lrhodes@petk12.org
(707) 778-4605
Jennifer Hansen, Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources
jhansen@petk12.org
(707) 778-4608
Complaints Subject to UCP
The district's uniform complaint procedures (UCP) shall be used to investigate and resolve complaints regarding the following programs and activities:
Complaints filed under the District's Uniform Complaint Procedure will be investigated and a decision made within sixty (60) calendar days of the District's receipt, unless the complainant agrees to an extension. The District's compliance officer or designee may interview alleged victims, alleged offenders, and relevant witnesses. The compliance officer may review available records, statements, or notes related to the complaint, including evidence or information received from the parties during the investigation. The compliance officer may visit reasonably accessible locations where discrimination is alleged to have occurred. As appropriate, the District's compliance officer periodically will inform the parties of the status of the investigation. The complainant will be notified when a decision is made. The compliance officer will prepare and send a final written decision to the complainant and respondent, if any, within sixty (60) calendar days of the District's receipt of the complaint (unless the complainant agrees to an extension).
If the complainant or respondent is not satisfied with the decision, either the complainant or respondent may, within five business days, file the complaint in writing with the Board. The Board may consider the matter at a Board meeting or decide not to hear the complaint, in which case the compliance officer’s decision shall be final. The complainant or respondent may appeal the District's decision within fifteen calendar days to the California Department of Education. The appeal must specify the reason for the appeal and whether the District's facts are incorrect and/or the law is misapplied. The appeal must include a copy of the original complaint to the District and a copy of the District's decision. For more information, visit the California Department of Education’s webpage on Uniform Complaint Procedures.
For complaints alleging unlawful discrimination based on state law, the complainant may pursue available civil law remedies, including seeking assistance from mediation centers or public/private interest attorneys, sixty calendar days after filing an appeal with the California Department of Education. (California Education Code § 262.3.) Note that this sixty-day moratorium does not apply to complaints seeking injunctive relief in state courts or to discrimination complaints based on federal law. (California Education Code § 262.3.)
Complaints may also be filed with the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, within 180 days of the alleged discrimination. For contact information, see the section above on “Filing a Complaint”. For more information, visit the OCR website found below.
If the compliance officer finds that a complaint has merit, the District will take appropriate corrective action.
PCS Uniform Complaint Procedure PCS Board Policy: 1312.3: Uniform Complaint Procedures PCS Uniform Complaint Form CDE Uniform Complaint Pamphlet Office of Civil Rights Complaint ProcedureNOTICE TO PARENTS/GUARDIANS, PUPILS, AND TEACHERS: COMPLAINT RIGHTS
Parents/Guardians, Pupils, and Teachers: Pursuant to Education Code section 35186, you are hereby notified that:
1. There should be suficient textbooks and instructional materials. For there to be sucient textbooks and instructional materials, each pupil, including English learners, must have a textbook or instructional material, or both, to use in class and to take home.
2. School facilities must be clean, safe, and maintained in good repair.
3. There should be no teacher vacancies or misassignments. There should be a teacher assigned to each class and not a series of substitutes or other temporary teachers. The teacher should have the proper credential to teach the class, including the certication required to teach English learners, if present. Misassignment means the placement of a certicated employee in a teaching or services position for which the employee does not hold a legally recognized certicate or credential or the placement of a certicated employee in a teaching or services position that the employee is not otherwise authorized by statute to hold. Teacher vacancy means a position to which a single designated certicated employee has not been assigned at the beginning of the year for an entire year or, if the position is for a one-semester course, a position to which a single designated certicated employee has not been assigned at the beginning of a semester for an entire semester.
4. A complaint form can be obtained at the school office or district office, or downloaded from the school or district website.
You may also download a copy of the California Department of Education complaint form from the following website: http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/cp/uc. However, a complaint need not be led using either the district’s complaint form or the complaint form from the California Department of Education.
The Williams Complaint Procedure is available below in both English and Spanish:
Accessibility: If you need assistance putting your complaint in writing, please contact Human Resources at 707-778-4608 or jhansen@petk12.org. You may file a complaint anonymously, but the District's ability to investigate and respond may be limited by a lack of information.
Williams Complaint Form - English Williams Complaint Form - Spanish
Petaluma City Schools is committed to ensuring that its website is accessible to individuals with disabilities and that everyone has an equal opportunity to use and benefit from its online content and functionality. We strive to have each page in line with current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These guidelines were established by an international community with a shared vision to make all websites accessible to individuals with visual, hearing, or cognitive disabilities. Please note that some pages on our SRCS website contain links to third-party sites, which are not within our control and may not comply with accessibility standards. SRCS is not responsible for the content or accessibility of third party sites.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader, eye tracking device, voice recognition software, etc.) and have difficulty accessing any information on our website, please contact us at communications@petk12.org or 707-778-4890 and provide the URL (web address) of the material you tried to access, the problem you experienced, and your contact information, to request the information in an alternative format or to provide feedback on how Petaluma City Schools can improve its website accessibility.
We will be continuing to make updates and additions to this section. If you think there is something missing from this section of our website, please email communications@petk12.org or fill out the PCS Website Input Form.
Thank you for visiting Petaluma City Schools’ website. Petaluma City Schools is committed to protecting your privacy and developing technology that gives you the most powerful and safe online experience. This Statement of Privacy applies to the Petaluma City Schools’ website, SMS communication, and governs data collection and usage.
Some of our webpages and communication we send out through our communication portals (i.e. parentsquare, aeries) contain online forms that allow you to voluntarily submit Personal Identifiable Information(PII) such as your email address, name, home or work address or telephone number. Petaluma City Schools makes every effort to protect your personal information and does not rent, lease, or sell your PII. Petaluma City Schools makes every effort to secure the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure.
Petaluma City Schools collects and uses your personal information to operate the Petaluma City Schools website and deliver the services you have requested. Petaluma City Schools also uses your personally identifiable information to inform you of other products or services available from Petaluma City Schools and its affiliates. Petaluma City Schools may also contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinion of current services or of potential new services that may be offered.
Petaluma City Schools will disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Petaluma City Schools or the website; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Petaluma City Schools; and, (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of Petaluma City Schools, or the public.
The Petaluma City Schools websites use "cookies" to help you personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you.
One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the Web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize Petaluma City Schools pages, or register with Petaluma City Schools site or services, a cookie helps Petaluma City Schools to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. This simplifies the process of recording your personal information, such as billing addresses, shipping addresses, and so on. When you return to the same Petaluma City Schools website, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the Petaluma City Schools features that you customized.
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most Web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the Petaluma City Schools services or Web sites you visit.
Petaluma City Schools uses SMS communication as a convenience to parents to provide easier communication with Petaluma City Schools staff regarding their students. Petaluma City Schools will not sell or share your SMS contact information with third parties for any purposes.
Petaluma City Schools will occasionally update this Statement of Privacy to reflect company and customer feedback. Petaluma City Schools encourages you to periodically review this Statement to be informed of how Petaluma City Schools is protecting your information.
If you believe that Petaluma City Schools has not adhered to this Statement, please send an email to the webmaster at Petaluma City Schools. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly determine and remedy the problem.
Dr. Lori Rhodes, Assistant Superintendent, Student Services
lrhodes@petk12.org
(707) 778-4605
Jennifer Hansen, Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources
jhansen@petk12.org
(707) 778-4608
