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This week we continue on within the same section of our 2023 HAT Trick Resolution of holding the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) to FULL Honesty, Accountability, Transparency with the District Deeds HAT TRICK Handbook Chapter 9: “Uniform Complaint” – Component Checklists and UCP Examples.

In this chapter we will cover the full review of your Uniform Complaint (UC) via suggested checklists and offer a complaint narrative example from an actual UC submitted to both the SDUSD and thew California Department of Education (CDE).

To get the full background and chapters of our UC Handbook initiative, please review the previous entries for this handbook:

District Deeds HAT TRICK Handbook

UC Preface and Introduction

UC Chapter 1 – Documentation, Documentation, Documentation!

UC Chapter 2 – CDE Statute Of Limitations – #1 Reason for UCP Failure

UC Chapter 3 – The UC “FROM” Page – Break the SDUSD “Confidentiality” Myth!

UC Chapter 4(a) – UC Violation Checkbox Page – San Diego Unified Violation Items #1 – #7

UC Chapter 4(b) – UC Violation Checkbox Page – San Diego Unified Violation Items #8 – #14

UC Chapter 5: UC Violations Pandemic: Motivation for Filing Uniform Complaints!!!

UC Chapter 6: UC Question 2 – “Discrimination, harassment, intimidation and/or bullying” Definitions

UC Chapter 7(a) – UC Question 2 Violation Categories: Age – Ethnic Group Identification

UC Chapter 7(b) – UC Question 2 Violation Categories: Gender – National Origin

UC Chapter 7(c) – UC Question 2 Violation Categories: Sex/Actual – Religion

UC Chapter 7(d) – UC Question 2 Violation Category: “Association with a person or group with one or more of the actual or perceived characteristics listed”…The “Community Whistleblower” Category!!!

UC Chapter 8(a) – Page 2 “NATURE OF COMPLAINT” Question 1: Describe the reason for your complaint

UC Chapter 8(b) – Page 2 “NATURE OF COMPLAINT” Questions 2 – Desired Outcome, 3 – SDUSD Contacts and 4 – SDUSD Response

Along the way we will be providing “DD HINT“‘s and “DD Tip“‘s and DD Note‘s to highlight key information that Stakeholders should know when filing UC’s.

We also urge our readers to read our Disclaimer for ALL posts on this blog:

District Deeds Blog Disclaimer

Chapter 9 Quote:

“For most diagnoses all that is needed is an ounce of knowledge, an ounce of intelligence, and a pound of thoroughness.” – Anonymous 

DD NOTE:   The rights of SDUSD Stakeholders are nearing extinction and already come last behind the political and propaganda needs of the corrupt SDUSD senior leadership and its well financed legal and public relations departments.  It is critical that anyone filing a UC has a precise result in mind when compiling evidence and creating a precise UC narrative.  Remember, any minor loophole, misrepresentation or timeline error in your UC may result in the SDUSD squirming out of any and all responsibility for their corrupt actions. 

Chapter 7(d) Preface

District Deeds and astute SDUSD Stakeholders know that the LAST thing the corrupt and opaque SDUSD senior leadership wants is to be fully transparent and honest to empower SDUSD Stakeholders and gather EVIDENCE in holding them accountable for their misdeeds.  That same attitude is shared by the CDE to a large degree.

In other words, the antithesis of the 2023 HAT Trick Resolution.

DD NOTE: UC Hat Trick Handbook is attempting to be comprehensive to meet the most challenging of UC’s in every category.  The other side of UC’s is that they can be extremely simple and used as evidence for FUTURE, more expansive UC’s.  In our examples provided in this chapter we will provide a complex and simple complaint so that you can scale your own UC to the scope of the SDUSD/CDE violation, be it large or small.

DD HINT:  There is no “requirement” to use the exact form provided by the SDUSD.  As you will see with the examples provided in this chapter, a simple email containing all the components we have been analyzing in this handbook can be capsulized in just a few paragraphs and sent via email to the following location provided by the Uniform Complaint Office on the SDUSD website:

Please note that the only stipulation, outside of the following “Statute of Limitations”, is that your complaint is provided “in writing“.  This means you can frame your UC in any way you see fit, using the SDUSD provided form or not.

DD TECH TIP – “POP OUT FEATURE“:  Some of the graphics and information posted has extremely small type and is difficult to read.  When you have difficulty reading or seeing one of these items, just click on that item and it will “pop out” in a larger version.  When you want to enlarge the document further, just click on that item again.  To go back to the District Deeds article, just use the back  arrrow ” Tab key”     in your screen header to navigate that action.

Here are the 11 components of a Uniform Complaint (UC):

  1. To
  2. From
  3. Complaint Against (name of person[s])
  4. A violation of federal or state law or regulation governing the following program(s)
  5. Discrimination, harassment, intimidation and/or bullying in programs receiving state financial assistance based on actual or perceived characteristics
  6. Nature of Complaint: Describe the reason for your complaint. Include the specific allegations with names, dates, places, witnesses, etc. (Use additional paper if necessary.)
  7. What is your desired outcome from this complaint?
  8. Have you spoken to any district personnel regarding this complaint? Yes No
  9. If yes, provide the name (s) and brief summary of any results
  10. Signature
  11. Date

DD TIP:  Although there are 11 items, it is NOT necessary to follow that exact sequence when beginning your initial “documentation, documentation, documentation” stage. It is actually best to start with Item #6 – “Nature of your complaint” first by creating a rough draft of your primary complaint issue.  Your rough draft can be updated and expanded as you gather more evidence.  That is why we start this Checklist with item #6.

#6 – Nature of Complaint

This step can be started and stopped as you begin the journey to filing a UC.  The “Nature of Complaint” narrative should include the following items:

  • Study Hat Trick UC Handbook Chapters 6, 7(a), 7(b) and 7(c) to clearly define the POSSIBLE “Discrimination, harassment, intimidation and/or bullying” violations that fit your UC.  You will narrow this down further as you work though the UC rough draft to final draft process.
  • Create a timeline for all existing and new violations.  Most SDUSD violations are pervasive.  The do not start and stop on their own, they continue on until your complaint, a public relations fiasco exposed by District Deeds or local press coverage or massive protests by a SDUSD Stakeholder group (Teachers, Parents, Students, SDUSD Staff) FORCES the reticent leadership to make a change.
  • Capture and verify all communications with the SDUSD and relevant individuals via email on an ongoing basis.  If you have a meeting with the Principal, Teachers or other school site personnel, memorialize it with an email.  If an incident supporting your complaint occurs, memorialize it with an email.  If you male a public comment at a Board of Education meeting about your complaint, memorialize it to the Trustees and school site leadership with an email.  Memorialize with an email…ALWAYS.
  • Keep a specific running list of ALL individuals “To” and “cc”‘d in your communications for a UC to use later in the process.
  • Create your complaint based on research of CDE Education Code, District guidlines posted on the SDUSD website and news articles from other parents in other districts to clearly define your UC.

#1: To

  • Although the SDUSD instructions say to send send all complaints in writing to “Lynn A. Ryan, Uniform Complaint Compliance Officer”, there is nothing that prevents you from sending the complaint to everyone in the SDUSD Chain of Commpand up to and including the CDE.  We recommend on ALL UC’s, large and small, you send it to the following individuals:
  • All other Co-Complaintants
  • Teachers (if a witness)
  • Other School Site Personnel  Counselor, IEP Support, etc. (if a witness)
  • Principal
  • Area Superintendent
  • Lynn Ryan UC Complaince Officer
  • Lamont A. Jackson – Superintendent of Public Education
    ljackson@sandi.net – (619) 725-5506
  • Fabiola Bagula – Deputy Superintendent – fbagula@sandi.net
  • Your SDUSD Board of Education Trustee according to the map below:

  • Sabrina Bazzo – Board President – District A – Email: sbazzo@sandi.net
  • Shana Hazan – Board Vice President District B – Email: shazan@sandi.net
  • Cody Petterson – Board Trustee – District C – Email: cpetterson@sandi.net
  • Richard “Tricky Dick” Barrera – District D – Email: rbarrera1@sandi.net
  • Sharon Whitehurst-Payne – District E – Email: swhitehurst-payne@sandi.net
  • Sending this to all the above ensures that any future Public Records Requests regarding UC’s must contain your complaint.
  • If ALL UC’s copied ALL the individuals listed, the full depth and breadth of UC violations could not be hidden.

#2: From

The “From” can be as many or as few as needed (with their written consent) to strengthen your UC.  Members of your family, spouse, other school site parents, professionals (i.e. Lawyer, Doctor, Psychiatrist, etc.) can be added.  There is no limit.  Certain violations can only be filed by the Parent or Guardian of the impacted Student but others on your team can be cc’d on all communications.

#3: Complaint Against (name of person[s])

This section can also be expansive.  The key is to be INCLUSIVE rather than EXCLUSIVE.  Remember, you cannot ADD individuals or key evidence AFTER the UC has been submitted.  The checklist for this item includes:

  • Review all your evidence, especially emails, to identify SDUSD personnel that are in the chain of command for the violation.
  • If a counselor is “cc’d” include them.  If the attendance clerk in the front office is involved, include them.  Casting a wide net forces the SDUSD and CDE to actually investigate rather than dismiss your UC with no effort.
  • Verify the SDUSD relationship of all individuals named.  For instance, a pre-k or after school care individual may be employed by another company or non-profit but acting as a SDUSD representative when dealing with your child.  Name them and their organization.
  • Identify all other resources used by the SDUSD related to your complaint and name them.  For instance, if a subcontractor on a school site  discriminates against your child because of race or gender, name them on your complaint.

#4: A violation of federal or state law or regulation governing the following program(s)

  • If you are adding supporting evidence to your complaint, some of that information may not contain all of these 5W1H components but feel free to add any and all of that information to support your complaint.  Remember, INCLUSIVE, not EXCLUSIVE!
  • Go though Chapter Handbook Chapters 4(a) and 4(b) and open the links to your particular complaints to verify/ad to the violations and solidify your claims with legal suppprt.
  • Go through all your Documentation one last time and add all relevant information you may have missed in your draft and tie it to CDE Ed Code Laws

#5 Discrimination, harassment, intimidation and/or bullying in programs receiving state financial assistance based on actual or perceived characteristics

  • Go though Hat Trick UC Handbook Chapters 4(a) and 4(b) and open the links to your particular complaints to verify/add to the violations and solidify your claims with legal suppprt.
  • Go through all your Documentation one last time and add all relevant information you may have missed in your draft and tie it to CDE Ed Code Laws

#7 What is your desired outcome from this complaint?

  • The checklist strategy with this step is threefold.  Be sure your “desired outcome”  forces the SDUSD to clearly define and implement:
  1. The immediate corrective action to stop the violation and/or abuse.
  2. The educational/support compensation for the Students or groups negatively impacted by the violations.
  3. The SDUSD district-wide, documented corrective action so it doesn’t happen again
  4. The penalty for the SDUSD if they fail to completely implement items 1, 2 and 3.
  • Feel free to shoot high for the “desired outcome”.  Apply the hockey icon Wayne Gretzky quote: “You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take”

#8 Have you spoken to any district personnel regarding this complaint? Yes No

and

#9 If yes, provide the name (s) and brief summary of any results

  • This is the step that all your emails, both “to” and “from”, with primary and cc”d SDUSD personnel pays off.  List ALL of them and their responses (or no response if applcable) to support your SDUSD inadequate response narrative.

    #10: Signature

and

#11: Date

  • This area should include the signature, date and email of EVERYONE that has agreed to join you in your complaint, even if they are in your own household.  You can include your own kids if they were the ones impacted by the violation.  The SDUSD has over 12,000 employees to dispute your complaint.  It can only help your complaint to have a few more honest and responsible SDUSD Stakeholders to improve those odds.

That completes the “Checklist” portion.  This serves as just the start of your successful UC.  As you file more and more  UC’s you will get better as you go.

We contacted David Page, former Chair of the SDUSD District Advisory Committee to get a sample of the many Uniform Complaints he has filed against both the CDE and the SDUSD.  He responded with the following narrative section:

Another excellent example of filing successful UC’s is Sally Smith, a guest writer we have featured on District Deeds.   Here is an article from the Del Mar Times profiling one of her Uniform Complaint efforts titled “High school student parking fees under scrutiny“.  Here is an excerpt:

At $40 annually per vehicle, the San Dieguito Union High School District collected over $77,000 in fees this year from students for campus parking permits.

With an overall budget this year of about $107 million, $77,000 may seem insignificant. But there’s a principle at stake here, says Sally Smith, a San Diego attorney and relentless crusader for equal access in public education.

Smith has taken on dozens of school districts throughout California for what she claims are illegal fees that exclude or discriminate against low-income students.

A Uniform Complaint filed by Smith against SDUHSD on May 2 itemized five areas of questionable practices, one of which was student parking fees.

“It is strictly a fee to generate revenue directly from the students which is illegal,” her complaint reads. “[S]tudents are used to generate tens of thousands of dollars and only they bear the burden, not the adults. No district should impose a fee which makes it more difficult for students to get to school, particularly indigent students.”

and another:

But Smith doesn’t mince words. She noted how many tens of thousands of dollars parents in the San Dieguito district donate to their schools, and said charging students additional fees is not just illegal but unreasonably excessive.

“Educators have lost their way,” she said.

Whatever one may think of Smith, no one can argue that she is not driven with a purpose and armed with steely determination to represent the under-represented.

Sally Smith keeps us honest, is a mirror to our conscience, and reminds us all that not everyone is privileged to have the economic advantages in life that some school districts take for granted.

We contacted Sally Smith regarding Uniform Complaints and she told us that fliing a Uniform Complaint “Doesn’t have to be complicated” and shared with us the following:

As you can see there is a wide range of ways to file UC’s and these two experts have shown that the structure and length can be as complicated or simple as needed.  The best strategy is to begin with smaller UC’s using as many of the checklist items that are available and grow into filing ones that are more involved and complex.

With over 200,000 Stakeholders, we need to be thorough, honest and relentless when filing numerous Uniform Complaints against a $1.4 billion SDUSD leadership dedicated to avoiding all Honesty, Accountability and Transparency.

THAT is our path to the HAT Trick for filing successful Uniform Complaints!

Thank you for reading Chapter 9!

Next week in Chapter 10 we will post the sending and followup protocols for your completed UC along with some key points to remember for EVERY UC you create.

Be sure to pass this on to ALL your SDUSD Stakeholder friends and colleagues for ALL chapters.

And remember the 2023 resolution for ALL San Diego Unified School District Stakeholders especially for ALL SDUSD Employees…

The SDUSD HAT TRICK – HONESTY-ACCOUNTABILITY-TRANSPARENCY

Together we can Make This Better!!!

See you next week for Chapter 9!!!

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