If you are experiencing any kind of protected class discrimination in an Oregon K-12 public school or public charter school setting, you have options for filing a complaint. In some cases, you can file a complaint with multiple agencies at once.
Options for filing a civil rights complaint include:
- Filing a complaint with your school or district
- Appealing a complaint to the Oregon Department of Education
- Filing a complaint with the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights
- Filing a complaint with another agency (depending on the circumstances)
Questions about filing discrimination complaints may be directed to the Civil Rights Support Program. Civil Rights Support Specialists can be reached by email at
ODE.CivilRightsSupport@ode.oregon.gov, or by phone at 971-209-8278.
File a complaint with your school or district
All K-12 public school districts and public charter schools in Oregon are required by state law to have discrimination policies and procedures that cover discrimination based on age, color, disability, gender identity, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation (ORS 659.850).
Any school that receives federal funds (including all K-12 public and charter schools) is subject to federal civil rights laws and must follow federal compliance mandates to respond to discrimination based on age, color, disability, national origin, race, and sex.
To a file a complaint of discrimination with your school or district:
- Contact any school official to make a report either verbally or in writing (including email), such as the district/charter school Civil Rights Coordinator, your school principal, a district official, or another staff member you trust. Let them know you want to make a discrimination complaint.
- Some schools provide discrimination complaint forms, which you can find on the school or district website. These forms may be used to submit a complaint in person or electronically.
If you are unable to find your district’s discrimination policy, or aren’t sure how to file a complaint with your district, you can:
- Contact a school official such as your district’s Civil Rights Coordinator and ask them how to submit a discrimination complaint. The contact information for the Civil Rights Coordinator should be posted on the district website in the district’s notice of nondiscrimination; or
- Contact an ODE Civil Rights Support Specialist for assistance at ODE.CivilRightsSupport@ode.oregon.gov or 971-209-8278.
Appeal a complaint to the Oregon Department of Education
The Oregon Department of Education can accept protected class discrimination complaints on appeal, which means you need to have first filed with your school/district. Appeals are subject to specific timelines outlined in
OAR 581-075-0010. This means that you can submit a discrimination appeal to ODE once you have met at least one of the following:
- You have received a final written decision in accordance with your school or district’s complaint process; OR
- In a complaint process with more than one step (i.e., a process that has an appeal option at the school or district level), the district does not provide you a written decision regarding your complaint within 30 days at any one step of the process, OR
- The district does not issue a final response within 90 days of the initial filing of the complaint, regardless of how many steps are in the district’s process.
File a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education.
Discrimination based on age, color, disability, national origin, race, or sex can be reported to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights* (OCR) with or without first filing a complaint with your school or district.
Complaints must generally be filed within 180 days of the discrimination, but that requirement may be waived; if you are filing a complaint after 180 days, you may be asked to show good cause as to why the filing was delayed. If you first filed a complaint with your school or district, you can file a complaint with OCR up to 60 days after the conclusion of your school/district’s grievance process.
*Links to external websites are subject to change.
Other Complaint Processes
In addition to the discrimination complaint options listed above, you may consider other complaint processes through other agencies:
- Discrimination complaints regarding the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program and USDA Food Distribution Program may be made to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ODE can also assist with processing complaints related to child nutrition civil rights.
- To file a complaint with ODE regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for a student who has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), visit ODE’s IDEA Complaint Process page.
- Reports of sexual abuse may be made to the Oregon Department of Human Services or to law enforcement. Oregon law also prohibits any sexual conduct between K-12 students and school employees, contractors, agents, or volunteers. Learn more about reporting sexual conduct.
- School employees who experience discrimination at work based on age, color, disability, gender identity, marital or family status, military status, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation may file a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI).
- Higher education students, including students at public schools, private schools, community colleges, and trade schools, can contact the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) about options for discrimination complaints.
- Complaints about a licensed Oregon educator may be made to the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission.
- Individuals experiencing discrimination from a school/district may also consider private legal action. Individuals should contact an attorney to learn more about their legal options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Reports of discrimination may be submitted verbally or in writing (including electronically). Some processes may use a form and request specific information. If no form is provided, or as applicable when filling out the form, include as much of the following information as you can:
- Name & contact information of the person filing
- Name and contact information of the person discriminated against (if not the person filing the complaint, such as the student)
- Name of the school or district where the incident(s) took place.
- The basis of your complaint (which protected class - race, disability, sexual orientation, etc)
- Describe each incident. As much as possible, include for each incident:
- The date(s) and location(s) where the discriminatory act occurred
- The name(s) of each person(s) involved
- Why you believe the incident constituted discrimination
- The name(s) of any person(s) who was present and witnessed the acts of discrimination
- The most recent date you were discriminated against
- If applicable, what action(s) you would like to see taken to correct the harm done to the person(s) who experienced discrimination
- Sign & date the report either in writing or electronically
If you don’t have all of the above information, submit what you know at the time.
You should keep a copy of your submission for your records. If you submit a report verbally, it suggested that you keep records of the following information:
- Who you spoke to.
- What day and time you spoke to them
- A summary of the conversation
- Anything the person told you in response
- If possible, consider sending a follow-up email confirming that you reported the discrimination.
For some discrimination complaint processes, yes, you can file the same complaint with multiple agencies at once. For example, you can file a complaint with ODE and with the U.S. Department of Education at the same time. You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education and with your school district at the same time.
For the ODE discrimination complaint process, you must have first filed a complaint with your district before you can file with ODE. Oregon’s laws require that the district has the first chance to respond to a complaint (
ODE’s Complaint and Appeals resource page and
OAR 581-002-0005 has more information about specific waiting periods).
Some complaint processes are subject to specific timelines. For example, your district’s discrimination policy may indicate a maximum timeline in which you should receive a decision - this may be 10 days, 30 days, or more, depending on your district’s policies and the specific steps of the process you are in. You should contact the specific agency or organization (your school district, OCR, ODE, or someone else) to discuss their timelines.
ODE’s discrimination appeals processes are subject to the timelines listed in
OAR 581-002-0001 through 0023. ODE may extend these timelines for good cause. Complex discrimination cases may take longer to process and investigate.
No, you are not required to be represented by a lawyer in order to file a civil rights complaint with your district, ODE, or OCR.
Individuals may wish to consult with a lawyer about their legal options both within and outside these processes. If you retain legal counsel, they may be able to help you with the filing process.