Within ten (10) business days after the compliance officer receives the complaint, the compliance officer shall begin an investigation into the complaint.

In conducting the investigation, the compliance officer shall collect all available documents and review all available records, notes, or statements related to the complaint, including any additional evidence or information received from the parties during the course of the investigation. He/she shall individually interview all available witnesses with information pertinent to the complaint, and may visit any reasonably accessible location where the relevant actions are alleged to have taken place. At appropriate intervals, the compliance officer shall inform both parties of the status of the investigation.

To investigate a complaint alleging retaliation or unlawful discrimination (such as discriminatory harassment, intimidation, or bullying), the compliance officer shall interview the alleged victim(s), any alleged offenders, and other relevant witnesses privately, separately, and in a confidential manner. As necessary, additional staff or legal counsel may conduct or support the investigation.

Unless extended by written agreement with the complainant, the compliance officer shall prepare and send to the complainant, and respondent if there is one, a written report within sixty (60) calendar days of the district’s receipt of the complaint.  (5 CCR 4631)

For complaints of unlawful discrimination (such as discriminatory harassment, intimidation, or bullying), the decision may, as required by law, include:

1. Notice of the complainant’s and respondent’s right to appeal the district’s decision to the CDE within fifteen (15) calendar days, and procedures to be followed for initiating such an appeal

For complaints alleging unlawful discrimination based on state law (such as discriminatory harassment, intimidation, and bullying), the decision shall also include a notice to the complainant that:

1. He/she may pursue available civil law remedies outside of the district’s complaint procedures, including seeking assistance from mediation centers or public/private interest attorneys, sixty (60) calendar days after the filing of an appeal with the CDE. (Education Code 262.3)
2. The sixty (60) days moratorium does not apply to complaints seeking injunctive relief in state courts or to discrimination complaints based on federal law. (Education Code 262.3)
3. Complaints alleging discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, gender, disability, or age may also be filed with the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights at www.ed.gov/ocr within one hundred eighty (180) days of the alleged discrimination.