What if the Parental Complaints Procedure has been exhausted and parents still are unhappy with the outcome? They continue to behave inappropriately towards the teacher and/or principal
- Published: 27 October 2022
This issue highlights the fact that procedures are no replacement for positive relations. How schools approach relationships and communicate is important. Continually promoting positive relationships, embedded in and underpinned by a robust Dignity and Respect at Work culture is crucial. Clearly and regularly articulating how issues are resolved in school also helps reduce disaffection.
Where individuals engage in more formal procedures it is important to remind everyone that the purpose of such procedures is to resolve issues. Frequently parties come to a solution themselves. If this is not possible then a more formal procedure can be followed to the point where a third party, which in the case of Parental Complaints may ultimately be the Board of Management, adjudicates on the issue. In this procedure ‘the decision of the board shall be final’.
Once a procedure has been exhausted it is possible that one or other party may not be satisfied with the outcome. This is a regrettable side effect of engaging in and relying on a formal adjudication process. While we can understand that individuals may feel upset, annoyed, or even angry about an outcome, we also need to be clearly focussed on basic principles which govern Dignity and Respect at Work. Dignity at Work clearly articulates what behaviours are acceptable and unacceptable in our workplace. As principals it is important to recognise that we cannot take responsibility for, or indeed control how others feel. We can however rely on robust policies which govern actions, conduct and behaviours.
If an individual behaves inappropriately towards the teacher and/or principal, the most appropriate policy for addressing this would be Dignity and Respect at Work Policy. This policy explicitly deals with how issues and concerns are addressed in school, the procedures that can be accessed, what behaviours are appropriate and inappropriate and how everyone in the school can expect to be treated i.e. with dignity and respect. It provides the terms of reference for managing adult behaviour in the workplace.
