La Salle College Policy and Procedures on Handling School Complaints

Preamble

The Education Bureau (EDB) fully implemented the “Enhanced School Complaint Management Arrangements” (the Enhanced Arrangements) in 2017 (revised in 2023). All schools in Hong Kong are required to set up their school-based mechanism and procedures for handling complaints lodged by parents, students or the public concerning schools’ daily operation or internal affairs; as well as handling complaints lodged by school staff. On this basis, La Salle College formulates its school-based complaint handling mechanism and procedures in the spirit of the Enhanced Arrangements.

This school-based policy and procedure are not applicable to the handling of the following types of complaints: 

• Complaints related to ongoing legal proceedings;
• Complaints under the jurisdiction of other organisations/ government departments;
• Complaints governed by other ordinances or statutory regulations such as complaints against corruption, fraud or theft;
• Complaints about the Education Ordinance and education policies and services provided by the EDB.

In general, LSC will not handle the following types of complaints:

• Anonymous complaints unless there is sufficient evidence of a prima-facie case [or when the case is serious or urgent];
• Complaints not made by a person concerned – anyone who seeks to file a complaint on behalf of the person concerned has to obtain his/ her prior written consent;
• Complaints involving incidents that happened more than one year ago;
• Complaints with insufficient information.

If the complaint or appeal is in written form, LSC will respond with a written reply. If the complaint or appeal is made verbally, the responsible staff may decide whether to respond orally or in writing. If the case is referred by the EDB/other organisation(s), a copy of the written reply should be forwarded to them for reference.

1. Handling of complaints lodged by parents, students or the public concerning the school’s daily operation or internal affairs

As a general practice, schools may immediately or promptly provide assistance or help resolve a complaint with the complainant by adopting informal complaint handling procedures. If best efforts to resolve a complaint through informal complaint handling procedures are not successful and the complainant is still dissatisfied with the school’s response, or the complaint still remains unresolved, formal complaint investigation procedures should be initiated.

The flowchart below shows the handling procedures.

1.1  Informal Complaint Handling Procedures

Immediate/ Prompt Handling

On receiving an inquiry, opinion or informal complaint, the frontline staff should clearly distinguish its nature and take appropriate action. In general, if the case does not require an investigation involving evidence collection, or the person concerned does not request a formal written reply, the frontline staff may handle the matter informally.

The frontline staff should listen to the concerns of the enquirer/ complainant with care and empathy. If the incident is not serious, they should provide whatever assistance or information required or promptly respond to the concerns raised by the inquirer/ complainant and help resolve the problems involved. 

If necessary, the school staff in charge of the relevant issue should be informed and they should have direct communication with the person(s) concerned to explain the school’s stance and remove any misunderstanding, misgivings or worries. The time limit for an initial response is set to be within two working days.

Replying to complaints

Oral replies will suffice and written replies are normally not required for verbal enquiries/ opinions/ complaints.

For opinions/ complaints which are presented in written form, the responsible staff may decide whether a simple written reply to the person(s) concerned/ complainant is appropriate.

Complaint records

Cases handled by the informal complaint handling procedures normally need not be documented in formal written records. If an enquiry/ complaint has been answered or resolved instantly, the designated staff may record the key points in a log book and file for future reference.

Appropriate follow-up

LSC will review whether the policies or procedures regarding complaints have been properly followed and suggest appropriate measures to improve the handling of similar cases or prevent similar cases from recurring. If necessary, the responsible staff may brief the person(s) concerned on the follow-up actions that the school has adopted and the results that follow. 

1.2   Formal Complaint Investigation Procedures

If the complainant still does not accept the school’s response or the problem remains unresolved, the formal complaint investigation procedures (including an appeal mechanism) should be initiated.

Arrangements for the Investigation Stage

Any formal complaints (including those referred by the EDB or other organisations) should be handled according to the following procedures:

1. Appoint designated staff

The appointing authority is either the Supervisor or the Principal, who will be responsible for appointing a designated member of staff to investigate the complaint and reply to the complainant in accordance with the situation.  The appointing authority will also appoint staff to handle an appeal, if so required such staff must be different from those responsible for the investigation stage. In principle, the staff dealing with the appeal should be of a higher rank than those responsible for the investigation stage.

2.  Acknowledge the receipt of the complaint by the designated staff

After declaration of interest, the designated staff will acknowledge receipt of the complaint, seek the complainant’s consent to obtain his/her personal data and information relating to the complaint.

3. Conduct formal investigation

The designated staff will take immediate measures to preserve all records related to the complaint, including text files, images, and/or audio recordings (if any), as evidence. The school must comply with the provisions of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance when collecting, holding, processing, or using personal data.

If necessary, contact the complainant and other persons involved or arrange meetings with them in order to have a better grasp of the situation or request them to provide relevant information.

4.  Reply to complaints

The investigation should be completed within two months. The designated staff will send a written reply to inform the complainant of the investigation result.

5.  Case closure

If the complainant accepts the investigation result, the case will be concluded officially.

If the complainant does not accept the investigation result or the way the school handled the complaint AND is able to provide new evidence or sufficient justification, he/she may lodge an appeal in writing against the designated staff’s decision within 14 working days from the date of the designated staff’s reply.

Arrangements for the Appeal Stage

1. Acknowledge the receipt of the appeal

Either the Supervisor or the Principal will acknowledge receipt of the appeal.

2. Conduct investigation and reply to the complainant

The designated staff (as assigned by the appointing authority) will handle and resolve the appeal within two months after receiving the appeal and will send a written reply to inform the complainant of the appeal result.

3. Case closure

If the complainant accepts the appeal result, the case will be concluded officially. If the complainant does not accept the appeal result or the way the school handled the appeal, the IMC should cautiously review the appeal process to ensure the proper procedures have been followed; and if the complainant raises other new allegations, the school should handle them as a separate case in order to avoid mixing up the old complaints with the new ones.

2.  Handling of complaints lodged by school staff

Preamble

Apart from the complaints lodged by parents, students or the public, our College will also handle complaints from school staff members as laid down in this section.

Arrangements for the Investigation Stage

Any formal written complaints lodged by school staff should be handled according to the following procedures:

1. Appoint designated staff

The appointing authority is either the Supervisor or the Principal, who will be responsible for appointing a designated member of staff to investigate the complaint and reply to the complainant in accordance with the situation. The appointing authority will also appoint staff to handle an appeal, if so required such staff must be different from those responsible for the investigation stage. In principle, the staff dealing with the appeal should be of a higher rank than those responsible for the investigation stage.

2. Acknowledge the receipt of the complaint by the designated staff

After declaration of interest, the designated staff will acknowledge receipt of the complaint.

3. Conduct formal investigation

The designated staff will take immediate measures to preserve all records related to the complaint, including text files, images, and/or audio recordings (if any), as evidence. The school must comply with the provisions of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance when collecting, holding, processing, or using personal data.

If necessary, contact the complainant and other persons involved or arrange meetings with them in order to have a better grasp of the situation or request them to provide relevant information.

4. Reply to complaints

The investigation should be completed within two months. The designated staff will send a written reply to inform the complainant of the investigation result.

5. Case closure

If the complainant accepts the investigation result, the case will be concluded officially. If the complainant does not accept the investigation result or the way the school handled the complaint AND is able to provide new evidence or sufficient justification, he/she may lodge an appeal in writing against the designated staff’s decision within 14 working days from the date of the designated staff’s reply.

Arrangements for the Appeal Stage

1. Acknowledge the receipt of the appeal

Either the Supervisor or the Principal will acknowledge the receipt of the appeal.

2. Conduct investigation and reply to the complainant

The designated staff (as assigned by the appointing authority) will handle and resolve the appeal within two months after receiving the appeal and will send a written reply to inform the complainant of the appeal result.

3. Case closure

If the complainant accepts the appeal result, the case will be concluded officially. If the complainant does not accept the appeal result or the way the school handled the appeal, the IMC should cautiously review the appeal process to ensure the proper procedures have been followed; and if the complainant raises other new allegations, the school should handle them as a separate case in order to avoid mixing up the old complaints with the new ones.