WILLIAMS ACT SETTLEMENT & COMPLAINTS
WILLIAMS SETTLEMENT
The Williams Settlement is a settlement of a class-action lawsuit against the State of California claiming the State failed to provide poor and underprivileged students with equal educational opportunities. The Williams Settlement applies to all schools in California and addresses sufficiency of textbooks and instructional materials, facility conditions and the vacancy or misassignment of teachers.
Each district classroom has posted the Williams Settlement notice outlining minimum instructional standards including sufficient textbooks, instructional materials, teacher vacancies, staffing misassignments, facilities, available intensive instruction services and complaint procedures. (EC § 35186 and 60119)
Williams Complaints
A complaint alleging any condition(s) specified in the Williams Settlement should be filed with the school principal or designee. The principal or designee will make all reasonable efforts to investigate any problem within his/her authority. He/she shall remedy a valid complaint within a reasonable time period not to exceed 30 working days from the date the complaint was received.
Complaints may be filed anonymously. If the complainant has indicated on the complaint form that he/she would like a response to his/her complaint, the principal or designee shall report the resolution of the complaint to him/her within 45 working days of the initial filing of the complaint. At the same time, the principal or designee shall report the same information to our district superintendent or his/her designee.
If a complainant is not satisfied with the resolution of the complaint, he/she may describe the complaint to the governing board in open session at a regularly scheduled board meeting.
For complaints concerning a facility condition that poses an emergency or urgent threat to the health or safety of students as described above, a complainant who is not satisfied with the resolution proffered by the principal, district superintendent or his/her designee, may file an appeal to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Complaints and written responses shall be public records.
A complaint form may be obtained at the school office, district office or downloaded from the Amador Unified School District’s website.
You may also download a copy of the California Department of Education complaint form from the California Department of Education website.