By Attorney Thomas B. Mooney, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut

The “Legal Question of the Week” is a regular feature of the CAS Weekly NewsBlast. We invite readers to submit short, law-related questions of practical concern to school administrators. Each week, we will select a question and publish an answer. While these answers cannot be considered formal legal advice, they may be of help to you and your colleagues. We may edit your questions, and we will not identify the authors. Please submit your questions to: legalmailbagcasciacorg. ________________________________________________________________________

Dear Legal Mailbag:

Every so often I get a parent complaint about one of my teachers. Sometimes it seems that the parent has a good point. However, their complaints are hearsay, and I certainly don’t want a grievance. So my normal practice is that I call the parent to calm him or her down, and then I just put the complaint letter in my correspondence file. Lately, however, I have gotten three complaints about a teacher, and I am wondering whether it is time for disciplinary action. I just wonder how I can base discipline on a hearsay complaint from a parent. What do you think I should do here?

Signed,
Educate me

Dear Educate:

You need to rethink your approach to parent complaints. Hearsay is a concept that applies to court proceedings – taking the statement of a third party for the truth of the matters asserted. Here, a parent complaint is not hearsay, but rather it is an invitation to look into a situation. Teachers and students alike are benefited when you take parent complaints seriously and find out what is going on. The benefit to students, of course, is clear. By addressing parent complaints, you may be able to take action to promote a nurturing and welcoming school environment for students.

Teachers, however, benefit as well. If a teacher is doing something wrong (or even if a parent has a complaint that is unfounded), it is only fair to bring that issue to the teacher’s attention. That way, the teacher has an opportunity either to address the concern or to explain to you why the concern is misplaced. Moreover, notice to a teacher about any performance concerns is the first step in progressive discipline. Unfortunately, some principals keep concerns to themselves until they see a major problem and then want to deal with it in a major way (e.g., suspension or termination). But when they do, the teacher can legitimately claim that keeping concerns a secret until they reach crisis proportion is unfair. Rather, it is important to take the initiative whenever complaints are received to inform the teacher, investigate, and decide whether the complaint is founded or unfounded. When the complaint is valid, you must take action. By taking action, you will promptly give the teacher fair warning and a chance to improve (unless of course the misconduct is so serious that it merits immediate termination). Promise me this: do not just put those complaint letters in the file. Please!