Equal Employment Opportunity

A “415 complaint” is a complaint alleging a violation of the District’s 415.00 policy. The 415 policy applies to all persons within the District, including students, contractors, employees and volunteers. Complaints made under the 415.00 policy allege retaliation or harassment, discrimination, or violence based on a person’s membership in a protected class.

The District takes seriously all complaints alleging retaliation, harassment, discrimination, and violence based on membership in a protected class.

Complaints will be received by designated persons throughout the District, identified as “Responsible Administrators” in the 415 policy. For example, if a complaint involves issues between two students, the Responsible Administrator is the school principal, or the principal’s designee. For a complaint involving issues between two staff members, the Responsible Administrator is generally the supervisor of the person bringing the complaint or that supervisor’s designee.

However, if the complaint is against the Responsible Administrator, complaints can also be filed directly with the EEO Director.

• Link: Read more about Reporting Procedures in the 415 Policy.

415 complaints can be filed in numerous ways, including:

• Online 415 complaint reporting form https://spps.guardianconduct.com/incident-reporting 
• 415 complaint reporting form (PDF Version to print and filled out)
• Oral complaint to a Responsible Administrator or the EEO Director
• Written complaint to a supervisor or a Responsible Administrator

Yes, 415 complaints can be filed anonymously. However, the 415 policy prohibits the District from taking disciplinary action or remedial measures based solely upon receipt of an anonymous complaint.

Policy 415.00 tasks all district personnel with the responsibility of remaining alert to potential conduct that is prohibited by the policy.

Policy 415.00 requires a person who witnesses, observes, or receives a report of prohibited conduct to attempt to resolve the conflict, and must report the conduct to a Responsible Administrator or to the EEO Director.

After a 415 complaint is received, the person bringing the complaint will be contacted to acknowledge the complaint has been received and to ask clarifying questions or gather additional information as needed.

Throughout the investigation process, the person bringing the complaint will be relied on for information relating to that complaint. 

Investigations are highly situational and are dependent upon the unique factors presented in each complaint. However, the following are examples of potential investigative activities:

• Review of documents (i.e. performance reviews, evaluations, emails, etc.)
• Interviews with person(s) filing complaints
• Investigative interviews of responding parties (the person against whom a complaint is filed)
• Personnel files
• Prior discipline
• Electronic or digital evidence, such as photos, browsing history, social media, badge info, etc.

The purpose of an investigation is to determine what conduct occurred, and whether the conduct rose to the level of a policy violation.

After an investigation is concluded, the department reports the investigation results to Human Resources. As described above, Human Resources will review the report to determine what, if any, action is necessary.

The standard EEO uses when conducting investigations is ‘preponderance of the evidence.’ In determining whether the conduct violated the 415 policy, the investigation will consider numerous factors such as the nature of the behavior, past/continuing patterns of behavior, frequency and the entire context of the complaint itself.

Numerous factors can impact an investigation timeline. However, according to the 415.00 policy, investigations should generally be completed within 30 days absent extenuating circumstances.

The department will inform the person filing the complaint when the investigation has concluded and when the investigation results have been reported to Human Resources.

*Note: Due to data privacy and confidentiality laws, neither Human Resources nor EEO will be able to disclose details about whether action is taken, or what action was taken.

Policy 415.00 requires that all complaints be made in “good faith.” There is no limit to the number of 415.00 complaints a person files.