To Fremont Unified District Teachers Association, 

FUSD has sunshined Article 30. Please step up and renegotiate this item!!

Article 30, which governs the current complaint process, is an intimidating and highly onerous 5-step process. Students cannot speak up with confidentiality to authorities and raise their concerns. This creates a chilling effect that effectively limits minors from speaking up when they face bad behavior in the classroom. The Article 30 process itself is a punishment. No other school district has anything like this.

The power imbalance between minors and adults represented by an entire union is stark. Many high schoolers have shared their sheer helplessness at not being able to speak up. Parents and caregivers are also left feeling helpless. Administrators can do nothing other than ask the child to approach the problematic individual first.

As a public education system, we need a balance.  Teachers should have protections and freedom.  At the same time students and families should also have the protections to speak up confidently without fear and escalate if things are not right. 

We ask that Article 30 be renegotiated, keeping the students’ interests and well-being as the central focus. The status quo is simply not an option.

At a minimum any complaint process should have the following and all other school districts have this.

• Adequate protections for a student who wants to report an issue.  This is not provided today.    
•  A simplified system with fewer steps and without the undue burdens and timelines at every step.
•  Ability for supervisors on campus to tackle issues and solve problems in a meaningful way. 

The proposal from FUSD involves the following which is inline with what other school districts have.  

• Informal process steps and streamlined process to foster communication and resolution to concerns
• Formal process consisting of two steps to aid in collaborative and expeditious resolutions

References:

• Comparison with Other Districts