POWER Zone Community Code of Conduct
Updated: June 2024
Dear POWER Zone Families,
We are eager to partner with you in the educational journey of your children! As an organization, we exist to support our students and staff to exceptional levels of teaching and learning, and this can only be accomplished in a safe, supportive, collaborative culture. Fortunately, most of our POWER Zone parents, caregivers, and community members are positive contributors to this process, and we are grateful for you! However, a barrier to safety and well-being that has arisen in the last few years is the behavior of some stakeholders. POWER Zone staff members have, at times, been mistreated and even threatened, leading to staff feeling unsafe in their work environment. While it is a minority of stakeholders who behave in this manner, the problem is challenging enough that it must be addressed. We welcome your advocacy in solving this problem.
As part of the solution, the POWER Zone utilizes a Community Code of Conduct that guides how parents/guardians and guests interact with our staff as a community. We ask all parents, guardians, family members, and guests of POWER Zone campuses to carefully review this document to gain an understanding of what we prioritize and expect in the POWER Zone. This document will be shared out annually and will be accessible on our websites. It will also be available via a QR code at our campus front entries. Given the wide availability of the document, we will operate from the understanding that our stakeholders have reviewed it and understand its contents.
Thank you for partnering with us in your child’s education and supporting our POWER Zone community. Together we will achieve great things!
In Partnership,
Theresa Ritz
POWER Zone Superintendent
POWER Zone Community Code of Conduct
D49 Cultural Compass
District 49’s vision and mission is to be the BEST choice to learn, work, and lead. We strive to put all students on pathways to become knowledgeable citizens of the twenty-first century and empower them to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world. This can only occur in an environment that contributes to a culture of civility and respect.
District 49 uses a Cultural Compass as an important navigational aid. It helps to find our heading and guides us in the right direction.
The heart of the compass rose guides our actions in how we relate to and treat each other.
RESPECT- We respect others for their abilities, qualities, and achievements.
TRUST- We promote trust in our relationships through honest and open communication.
CARE- We provide a safe and caring environment for students and staff.
RESPONSIBILITY- We hold ourselves accountable for our actions.
The outer face of the compass rose guides us in how we treat our work.
LEARNING- We model continuous learning to encourage life-long learners.
PURPOSE- We ensure all decisions align with D49's Strategic Priorities
INNOVATION- We encourage risk-taking by supporting the creative exploration of new ideas and strategies.
TEAMWORK- We embrace working together to achieve effective results for our students and community.
POWER Zone Priorities
Combined with District 49’s guiding paradigm, the Cultural Compass, staff members in the POWER Zone work within common priorities. We also utilize a relational framework called Capturing Kids’ Hearts, to include following collaborative Social Contracts to ensure respect for all. We use these guiding principles in all of our interactions.
Code of Conduct
POWER Zone staff members are held to high expectations for upholding the District 49 Cultural Compass, POWER Zone Priorities, and our Social Contracts. Excellent service for our students and families is an expectation. Likewise, we expect students, parents/guardians, family members, and visitors to treat our staff and all stakeholders with care and respect. District 49 Board of Education policies (Sections J & K) offer specific conduct expectations for students and visitors to campuses, and our campuses offer Student and Family Handbooks to guide student behavioral expectations and inform our families. This document, our Community Code of Conduct, further details expectations for all POWER Zone community members.
Partnerships with our community are vital to the success of the POWER Zone, which is why we have such high expectations of our staff in regards to respect for our stakeholders. We ask that our community members follow similar expectations when communicating or interacting with and/or about POWER Zone employees. This includes in all settings and with any modes of communication– phone calls, texts, emails, social media, virtual meetings, any digital communications, and/or in-person meetings. These expectations also apply to stakeholder behavior at any and all school/zone/district events– athletic competitions, academic nights, PTA meetings, arts performances, etc. We honor and appreciate our partnership with community members, and these expectations are important in creating environments where partnerships can thrive.
As part of this partnership, we expect that:
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Teachers, administrators, and parents/guardians want all children to learn in a safe environment.
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Teachers, administrators, and parents/guardians must work together for the benefit of all students.
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All parents/guardians/visitors and all members of the school community, to include staff, deserve to be treated with respect.
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The school/zone should be provided a fair opportunity to resolve issues of concern before public criticism, and public criticism should not be defamatory and slanderous in nature.
Prohibited behaviors:
School District 49 Policy KFA - Public Conduct on District Property was taken into consideration in the creation process of this document. View the policy here: Policy KFA.pdf
In order to provide a peaceful and safe school environment, the POWER Zone Administration prohibits the following behaviors by parents/guardians and all individuals who engage with our school communities:
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Use, possession, distribution or sale of tobacco, marijuana, drugs and other controlled substances, alcohol and other illegal contraband on district property, at district or school-sponsored functions or in any district vehicle transporting students– to include vapes and e-cigarettes.
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Abusive, threatening, profane, or harassing communication, either in person, by e-mail or text/voicemail/phone, via social media, or other written or verbal communication.
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Disruptive behavior of any kind that interferes or threatens to interfere with school or PZ operations, including the effective operation of a classroom, an employee’s office or duty station, a campus lobby, athletic facilities, auditoriums/meeting areas, or any school grounds, including parking lots and outdoor events. This applies during school hours and outside of school hours, to include all extracurricular activities and events, on or off any POWER Zone campus.
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Causing or threatening bodily harm to a PZ employee, visitor, fellow parent/guardian, or student.
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Threatening to or causing damage to the property of a PZ employee, visitor, fellow parent/guardian, or student.
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Damaging or destruction of school property.
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Forceful or unauthorized entry.
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Excessive unscheduled, unreasonable, or redundant campus visits, e-mails, texts/voicemails/phone messages, or other written or oral communication–
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School staff and administration are generally focused and busy leading learning with students or supporting those who lead learning with students. The only way to ensure that you are able to speak with a staff member or administrator is to schedule an appointment, similar to other professional settings. Staff and administrators have a practice of attempting to return all reasonable communication within 24 to 48 hours, with great success. If your communication is not reasonable or violates this code of conduct, we reserve the right to cease or limit communication.
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Defamatory, slanderous, or derogatory comments regarding the school or school staff made publicly to others.
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Any concerns that you may have regarding these matters must be made through the appropriate channels so they can be dealt with fairly, appropriately, and effectively for all.
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This includes the use of any social media medium, including but not limited to websites, blogs, wikis, and social networking sites such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, etc.
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Consequences:
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Depending upon the severity of the incident, parents/guardians or visitors who have violated our code of conduct may be asked to leave, be removed from, or otherwise banned from campus and participation in school-sponsored events potentially under criminal trespass laws. In addition, when deemed appropriate by administration, law enforcement may be immediately notified.
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Any stakeholder or guest asked to leave a school-event (i.e. athletic competitions) due to his/her behavior, will not be permitted to attend school events for one full calendar year.
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In situations involving lesser infractions or where remediation is determined viable by the administration, a warning will be provided, either verbal or in writing, prior to the filing of trespass and issuance of a formal ban.
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Should a parent/guardian or visitor fail to heed the direction issued in the warning, a ban or other restrictions designed to deter the conduct will follow.
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No restriction, however, will prevent the parent/guardian from working collaboratively with the school and PZ to meet the child’s educational needs, nor will a parent/guardian be excluded from a child’s IEP or educationally-focused formal meeting.
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POWER Zone Sequence of Communication
Appropriate channels for stakeholders voicing concerns, complaints, and filing formal grievances should be made using the D49 Cultural Compass as a guide, and by the following means of communication:
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Concerns should first be appropriately addressed with the staff member directly through email, phone call, voicemail, or by making an in-person appointment.
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In the POWER Zone, we believe that email is often an ineffective means by which to resolve contentious matters.
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Concerns that are unable to be resolved following a direct conversation with the staff member involved should be directed to building administration to include the Dean of Students, Assistant Principal, and/or Principal.
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The Principal should be contacted prior to a concern being elevated to the Zone Superintendent's office.
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Concerns that remain unresolved following communication with building administrators should then be directed to the POWER Zone Superintendent’s office by calling or emailing the POWER Zone office at (719)494-8812 or powerzone@d49.org .
If concerns remain unresolved after advancing through the communication sequence, a formal grievance may be filed through the District 49 Stakeholder Grievance Process.