If your complaint does not allege a violation of state or federal special education law, you will have to follow the Uniform Complaint Procedures, or UCP. The UCP covers many different types of complaints, including those that allege discrimination, harassment, intimidation or bullying. [Cal. Ed. Code Sec. 33315.]
You can ask the CDE to investigate your UCP complaint directly if one or more of the following situations exist:
- The complaint includes an allegation that the district failed to comply with the UCP complaint procedures.
- You request anonymity because you would be in danger of retaliation and would suffer immediate and irreparable harm if you filed a complaint with the district.
- You alleged that the district failed or refused to implement the final Investigation Report resulting from its local investigation or local mediation agreement or a CDE appeal Decision.
- You alleged that through no fault of your own, the district did not take action on your complaint within 60 calendar days of the date the complaint was filed.
- You allege that you would suffer immediate and irreparable harm as a result of an application of a district-wide policy that is in conflict with state or federal law.
This is called “direct state intervention.” The CDE has the discretion to decide whether to intervene directly. [5 C.C.R. Sec. 4650(a).]
If CDE chooses not to intervene directly, it must send the complaint immediately to the district involved for investigation. [5 C.C.R. Secs. 4640(a)-(b).] In addition, CDE must notify you by letter that it has transferred the complaint and that the Department is requesting “local resolution” of the complaint. The letter must also advise you of the appeal procedures should you disagree with the results of the local investigation. [5 C.C.R. Secs. 4640(a)-(b)]