1. (a) Standard. All complaints and grievances received by the Department shall be dealt with in a fair and equitable manner.
2. (b) Procedure. The Department shall use the following procedure when the Department receives a complaint or grievance (hereinafter referred to collectively as “complaint”) concerning a technology center school district or program:
3. (1) All complaints concerning a technology center school district or program quality shall be in writing and shall be referred within five (5) working days of receipt to the chief administrative officer of the technology center school district or program for which the complaint has been registered. All communication from the Department to the technology center must be documented and kept on file.
4. (2) The chief administrative officer or their designee shall contact the complainant within five (5) working days to ascertain the nature of the complaint. The complainant shall be afforded the opportunity to meet with the institutional representative(s) and to present the complaint. All communication with the complainant must be documented and kept on file. The institution shall provide information on their local grievance policy to the complainant. The institution shall follow the criteria in their local policy to move forward with the grievance procedure.
5. (3) If the complaint cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant within a reasonable timeframe, the complainant may request to appear before the institution’s governing board. Such requests should be submitted in writing, signed by the complainant, and containing a summary of the compliant at least ten (10) working days in advance of a regularly scheduled board meeting. A denial of a request to appear shall be sent to the complainant in writing within five (5) working days.
6. (4) After exhausting all avenues for a resolution for the complaint from the local institution and governing board and the complaint is not resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant within a reasonable timeframe, the complainant may request a meeting with the employee of the Department designated to receive complaints (hereinafter referred to as the “complaints designee”). Such requests shall be submitted in writing, signed by the complainant, and contain a summary of the complaint. The complaints designee may request from the local institution the final resolution that was offered to the complainant. Upon review of the written request from the complainant and the resolution offered by the local institution, the complaints designee may or may not granted the request to meet at the sole discretion of the complaints designee. The complainant shall be notified of a denial of a request to meet in writing within five (5) working days of the request.
7. (5) If the complaint cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant by the complaints designee, the complainant may request to appear before the State Board. The request must be received in writing, signed by the complainant, and containing a summary of the complaint and any resolution offered by the local institution at least ten (10) working days in advance of the next regularly scheduled board meeting. The State Board has the sole discretion to grant or deny the request to appear before the State Board. A denial of a request to appear shall be sent to the complainant in writing within five (5) working days with the reason for denying the request.
8. (6) When applicable, within thirty (30) days of appearing before the State Board, the State Board will render a final decision and notify the complainant and all other interested parties in writing.

Added at 41 Ok Reg, Number 21, effective 7-25-24