Legal Notices
Child Find
Sultan School District seeks to locate, identify and evaluate students who are suspected of having a disability. Birth to age 3 referrals as well as Preschool referrals should be directed to our Educational Services Department at (360) 793-9800. A referral may be made by any concerned citizen and screening is free, but please call educational services for an appointment. Early education benefits the child's development and adaptability to the educational environment.
Prohibition of Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying
Sultan School District strives to provide students with optimal conditions for learning by maintaining a school environment where everyone is treated with respect and no one is physically or emotionally harmed.
In order to ensure respect and prevent harm, it is a violation of district policy for a student to be harassed, intimidated, or bullied by others in the school community, at school sponsored events, or when such actions create a substantial disruption to the educational process. The school community includes all students, school employees, school board members, contractors, unpaid volunteers, families, patrons, and other visitors. Student(s) will not be harassed because of their race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, including gender expression or identity, mental or physical disability, or other distinguishing characteristics.
Any school staff who observes, overhears, or otherwise witnesses harassment, intimidation or bullying or to whom such actions have been reported must take prompt and appropriate action to stop the harassment and to prevent its re-occurrence.
To report harassment, intimidation and bullying, contact Dan Baller, Compliance Officer at 360-793-9801 X 1020 or use our SafeSchools Alert reporting system:
Sexual Harassment Policy
Sexual harassment is unwelcome behavior or communication that is sexual in nature when:
A student or employee is led to believe that he or she must submit to unwelcome sexual conduct or communications in order to gain something in return, such as a grade, a promotion, a place on a sports team, or any educational or employment decision, or The conduct substantially interferes with a student's educational performance, or creates an intimidating or hostile educational or employment environment.
Examples of Sexual Harassment:
Pressuring a person for sexual favors, unwelcome touching of a sexual nature, writing graffiti of a sexual nature, distributing sexually explicit texts, e-mails, or pictures, making sexual jokes, rumors, or suggestive remarks, physical violence, including rape and sexual assault
How do I report sexual harassment?
You can report sexual harassment to any school staff member or to the district's Title IX Officer:
Dan Baller, (360)793-9800;
514 4th Street, Sultan, WA 98294
Complaint Options
Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
If you believe that you or your child have experienced unlawful discrimination, discriminatory harassment, or sexual harassment at school, you have the right to file a complaint.
Before filing a complaint, you can discuss your concerns with your child's principal or with the school district's Section 504 Coordinator, Title IX Officer, or Civil Rights Coordinator, who are listed above. This is often the fastest way to revolve your concerns.
Complaint to the School District
Step 1. Write Our Your Complaint
In most cases, complaints must be filed within one year from the date of the incident or conduct that is the subject of the complaint. A complaint must be in writing. Be sure to describe the conduct or incident, explain why you believe discrimination, discriminatory harassment, or sexual harassment has taken place, and describe what actions you believe the district should take to resolve the problem. Send your written complaint-by mail, fax, email, or hand delivery-to the district superintendent or civil rights compliance coordinator.
Step 2: School District Investigates Your Complaint
Once the district receives your written complaint, the coordinator will give you a copy of the complaint procedure and make sure a prompt and thorough investigation takes place. The superintendent or designee will respond to you in writing within 30 calendar days-unless you agree on a different time period. If your complaint involves exceptional circumstances that demand a lengthier investigation, the district will notify you in writing to explain why staff need a time extension and the new date for their written response.
Step 3: School District Responds to Your Complaint
In its written response, the district will include a summary of the results of the investigation, a determination of whether or not the district failed to comply with civil rights laws, notification that you can appeal this determination, and any measures necessary to bring the district into compliance with civil rights laws. Corrective measures will be put into effect within 30 calendar days after this written response-unless you agree to a different time period.
Appeal to the School District
If you disagree with the school district's decision, you may appeal to the school district's board of directors. You must file a notice of appeal in writing to the secretary of the school board within 10 calendar days after you received the school district's response to your complaint. The school board will schedule a hearing within 20 calendar days after they received your appeal, unless you agree on a different timeline. The school board will send you a written decision within 30 calendar days after the district received your notice of appeal. The school board's decision will include information about how to file a complaint with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).
Complaint to OSPI
If you do not agree with the school district's appeal decision, state law provides the option to file a formal complaint with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). This is a separate complaint process that can take place if one of these two conditions has occurred: (1) you have completed the district's complaint and appeal process, or (2) the district has not followed the complaint and appeal process correctly.
You have 20 calendar days to file a complaint to OSPI from the day you received the decision on your appeal.
You can send your written complaint to the Equity and Civil Rights Office at OSPI:
Email: [email protected] ǀ Fax: 360-664-2967
Mail or hand deliver:
PO Box 47200, 600 Washington St. S.E., Olympia, WA 98504-7200
For more information, visit:
www.k12.wa.us/Equity/Complaints.aspx
or contact OSPI's Equity and Civil Rights Office at:
360-725-6162/TTY | 360-664-3631 or by e-mail at [email protected].
Other Discrimination Complaint Options
Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education
206-607-1600 ǀ TDD: 1-800-877-8339 ǀ [email protected] ǀ www.ed.gov/ocr
Washington State Human Rights Commission
1-800-233-3247 ǀ TTY: 1-800-300-7525 ǀ www.hum.wa.gov
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I want to give you an update on the No Child Left Behind Act and how it impacts schools not only in our community but in nearly all communities. Without getting into all of the politics of why the State of Washington lost this waiver, I want to let you know that when the waiver was lost, we reverted back to the rules of No Child Left Behind. This is significant because this law states that 100% of all students will pass state achievement tests by the year 2014. While it is the desire of everyone in the Sultan School District that students achieve at their highest potential, it is not realistic for a variety of reasons. In fact, although unofficial, I have been informed that only two public schools out of over 2,300 schools in Washington State meet this standard and that these two schools likely have very unique populations.
An achievement index is utilized by the State Board of Education to provide a performance review of all schools in the state. A link to the Achievement Index can be found on the OSPI website at https://eds.ospi.k12.wa.us/WAI/IndexReport. Three of our schools currently have designations of a subgroup of students that is deemed to be under performing. The first school is a targeted group (Special Education) at Sultan Middle School. We accept the focus designation for our special education population at Sultan Middle School and wish to assure you that we will work hard on behalf of these students to improve the current outcomes.
The second school that received a negative designation is the Sultan Alternative Education School. Approximately 30% of these students come from our community and the other 70% from communities across the state. All of the students are served remotely - meaning the education is delivered online or without visiting one of our campuses. The circumstances around this designation are that many kids and families that attend these programs don't believe in or like the state testing that is used to calculate a school's achievement index, and therefore they don't take the test. This results in many of our students receiving zeros in the overall calculation. As you are aware, when you average many zeros with a few other scores you get a very low result. We are working hard with families in an effort to encourage them to have their children take the tests.
The final school that received a negative designation is Sultan High School for graduation rates. We do not agree with this designation at all and have appealed the result. The reason for the problem is that at some point last November we submitted data to the state through a student management system called Cedars. The state recorded that we did not have any graduating students last year. Of course this isn't accurate and by our calculations, our graduation rate should be between 80% and 90%. OSPI is aware of the problem and although they have not given us the official word that we are correct, they have stated that our calculations look like they are accurate. To help people understand a little more about how graduation rates are calculated, it is important to know that data is everything. What I mean by this is that as students move in and out of our district, it is imperative that we find out where kids have moved and enrolled in school. Sometimes they don't enroll right away or we are unable to find them as they have moved out of state. If that is the case, we are forced to code them as a dropout. Keeping track of all of this data, where kids are coming from and going to is a monumental task even for a school system our size. At the end of the day, while I am disappointed that our high school is being portrayed this way, I am confident that once the appeal has worked its way through the state, the information you see for Sultan High School on the Washington State Achievement Index will change dramatically for the positive. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to give me a call at 793-9801.
Sincerely,
Dan Chaplik, Superintendent
Sultan School District
Please select the link for information from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) regarding sudden cardiac arrest - the leading cause of sudden death in young athletes. You will learn the "Cardiac 3-Minute" drill that could save a young person's life.
The Department of Early Learning (DEL) serves as the Inpiduals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part C, State Lead Agency. The IDEA, Part C, law and regulations require that the public have an opportunity to comment on each state's annual application for early intervention funds. Please click the Public Comment Notice for specific information regarding public participation.
McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act of 1986
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act of 1986 provides support for homeless children and youth to continue their education without interruption or barriers. If your family is homeless, or if you are in a temporary living situation due to economic circumstances, your preschool-aged and school-aged children have certain rights or protections under federal law.
Who Qualifies?
A child or youth is considered homeless and qualifies for services when he or she lacks a nighttime residence that is fixed, regular, and adequate.
This may include the following:
- Sharing housing due to economic hardship, loss of housing, or similar reason
- Living in motels, campgrounds, trailer parks, or similar locations due to lack of alternative, adequate accommodations
- Transitional housing and emergency shelters
- Abandoned in hospitals, or awaiting foster-care placement
- Cars, train stations, public spaces, abandoned buildings, and other substandard housing
- Migrant children, runaways, or children whose parents will not permit them to live at home
- Unaccompanied youth who are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian
Local Liaison: Paul Douglas, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services (360) 793-9800
State Coordinator for Homeless Education: Melinda Dyer (360) 725-6050
Additional Resources:
Homeless Parent/Guardian Guide
Homeless Youth Handbook
FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are 'eligible students.'
Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school. Schools are not required to provide copies of records unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible for parents or eligible students to review the records. Schools may charge a fee for copies.
Parents or eligible students have the right to request that a school correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student then has the right to a formal hearing. After the hearing, if the school still decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student has the right to place a statement with the record setting forth his or her view about the contested information.
Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions:
- School officials with legitimate educational interest
- Other schools to which a student is transferring
- Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes
- Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student
- Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school
- Accrediting organizations
- To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena
- Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety
- Emergencies
- State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.
Student Directory Information:
Public Disclosure of Student Directory Information (For ALL Students Grades PreK-12).
In accordance with federal and state laws, the Sultan School District may release student directory information for various purposes. Student directory information is defined by the District's Board of Directors, and may include:
- Student name, address, telephone number, and email
- Date and place of birth
- Major field of study
- Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
- Weight and height of members of athletic teams
- Dates of attendance - Honors, awards & degrees received
- School & grade level
- Previous educational agencies or institutions attended by the student
- Photographs, videos and other similar information
Public disclosure of student directory information may occur in:
- School yearbooks (including photos)
- Team rosters and class lists
- Graduation, theater, athletic, and music programs
- Video performances, school activities, and athletic events
- Articles about school activities and athletic events
- School honor roll, scholarships and other awards
- Releases to media
Release of Directory Information to the ARMED FORCES (High School Students Only)
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 both require high schools to provide military recruiters with access to directory-type information on secondary school students. Upon request, and after notifying parents, schools must release to military recruiters the name, address, and telephone numbers of high school juniors and seniors, unless the parent or eligible student has opted out of the release of this information to military recruiters. If you wish to opt out, you must check the box and return this form no later than September 30 or ten days following the student's enrollment In the District, whichever is later. This election is good for the remainder of the current school year.
Publishing of Pictures, Videos & Student Art/Work in Schools
Sultan School District likes to celebrate the achievements of our students and staff. Throughout the year district staff may take photographs of students and school activities. These photographs may appear in various district materials, including the district's website (www.sultanschools.org), newsletters, yearbooks, brochures, district calendar, etc. We, at times, may also publicize student work.
The Sultan School District uses Integrated Pest Management (IPM) modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency recommended guidelines. A notice will be posted in the school main office 48 hours prior to the application of any biologic or chemical pesticide. Visit the MSDS link for additional information.
SULTAN SCHOOL DISTRICT ANNUAL REPORT CARD
Everything you want to know about our district's performance can be viewed by clicking the link below to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). Student performance information includes: disaggregated reading, math, and science assessment data; our participation rates on state assessments; and student achievement data based on NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Performance). District accountability data is also included: Annual Measureable Objective summary data (AMO); data for student performance on other academic indicators. You can also search teacher quality data, as well as other interesting data about our district performance. We encourage all community members to take advantage of this information about our schools, and to engage in conversations with your students' school staff to learn more about the information on this site
Annual Report Card