Students and families hoping the Oregon Department of Education will help them resolve discrimination issues and violations of state education laws at schools are facing major waits as the agency tries to handle a growing backlog of cases, according to state education officials.
The influx in reports and the lack of staff and contractors to investigate has many Oregonians waiting months for cases to be resolved, state education officials told the Senate Interim Education Committee on Tuesday.
In 2019, the state education department attempted to make it easier for students and families to report discrimination, retaliation or violations of state education and restraint policies and laws in schools. The response to a new reporting portal on the agency’s website was overwhelming in the years that followed, and complaints submitted to its Complaint & Appeals Resolution Unit grew by 270% between 2019 and 2024, from 85 complaints to more than 300.
The unit investigates an average of 13% of complaints each year.
It’s currently reviewing 66 open cases, and resolutions in more than half are overdue. Emily Nazarov, a government and legal affairs officer for the Oregon Department of Education, said staffing is the major barrier to speedy investigations and resolutions.
“Our backlog built up over 7 years. We will not resolve it overnight,” Nazarov said. “Our focus is on capacity and making sure we have the people we need to do the work.”
In 2024, the Legislature approved funding for 14 new Complaint & Appeals Resolution Unit employees and allocated an additional $150,000 per two-year budget cycle so the education agency could hire two contract investigators to help with the case backlog.
But reporting from The Oregonian earlier this month found that the positions have gone unfilled for more than 18 months, and the education department did not advertise it until Sept. 4, a week after the newspaper asked the education department why hiring was taking so long.
Nazarov said they expect the positions to be filled by the end of the year, and at least three more investigator positions to be filled by January 2026.
Beyond staffing shortages, cases accepted for investigation are increasingly complex, said Stacey Guise, a manager in the unit. They often require interviews with multiple people and relate to systemic issues,
By Alex Baumhardt of news partner Oregon Capital Chronicle
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