Does a grievance have to be heard by the full board? Can we use a committee?

Commissioner Morath was pretty blunt: “Respondent [the school district] needs to change its grievance policy.”  The policy permitted the board president to have a grievance heard only by a board committee, rather than the board as a whole. The Commissioner said that such a policy violates the Texas Education Code.

Apparently, the district has already made that change. I looked up its policy online and found nothing that would authorize the board president to assign an employee grievance to a committee.  The district has a 10-page version of DGBA (Local) and it calls for the entire board to hear a grievance.

So check your district’s policy.  Make sure you are not sending grievances to committee.

The case is Volpe and Kane v. United ISD, decided by the Commissioner on August 1, 2018.  The consolidated cases are Docket Nos. 012-R10-11-2017 and 023-R10-01-2018.

DAWG BONE: THE FULL BOARD HAS TO HEAR THE GRIEVANCE.

 Tomorrow: Social media posts got you down?