NEW HANOVER COUNTY — New Hanover County Schools (NHCS) will launch a new online reporting system next week, allowing parents, students, employees, and community members to file named or anonymous complaints.
According to NHCS, the system will allow complaints to be filed confidentially online at any time from any location, with or without giving a name.
The system, powered by Ethix 360, will allow “stakeholders to view student conduct, bullying, and harassment policies, report an issue, and check the status of their concern,” according to the district. The program will also allow NHCS to “store data, run reports, and identify trends.”
“If you have a concern, we encourage you to make it. We value the voice of those within our community, and we want them to feel comfortable reporting claims. This system will allow you to voice a concern within the district anonymously and can be done from anywhere. With one system to house all district concerns and complaints, it helps to ensure accountability and transparency,” Board of Education Chairperson Lisa Estep said in a release.
Stakeholders will be able to report concerns on but not limited to:
- Bullying
- Harassment
- Intimidation
- Discrimination
- Parent Concerns
- Community Concerns
- Employee Concerns
According to NHCS, the district’s Concerns and Resolution Process Center will be able to “triage matters to the appropriate school or division and allows the incident to be monitored until a resolution has been met.”
According to Assistant Superintendent of Student Support Services Julie Varnam the new system will allow translation into 33 languages, “so we are removing the language barrier while offering transparency and maintaining a reporting site.”
According to NHCSm those who are “unable to access the site or make an online concern, they are still able to contact central office with their concern and a district representative will log the concern with Ethix360.”
The online complaint system officially launches Monday, December 9; you can find the site here.
