Deputy, Student Rights and Responsibilities

Deputy, Student Rights and Responsibilities

The School District of Philadelphia is committed to becoming the fastest improving District in the country and transforming the educational opportunities it offers to our city's more than 200,000 students. The District seeks leaders who have a passion for working with schools and communities who are committed to ensuring all students achieve. Serving a population as diverse as ours requires creativity, commitment, and vision. Will you join us?

Supports the Chief of Student Support Services in the areas of student rights and responsibilities, student leadership, mentoring, attendance and truancy, student transitioning from out of district placements, students experiencing homelessness, students involved in child welfare, Title IX compliance, bullying and harassment compliance, and student discipline. Assures compliance with laws, codes, and regulations related to student discipline, hearings and expulsions, attendance and truancy, student transition, students experiencing homelessness and Title IX. Develops short-term and long-term plans that incorporate change processes to reduce problematic student behavior, reduce disproportionate expulsions and reduce incidents in schools which impact the school climate and community. Collaborates with City Partners, including Courts, Mayor's Office of Education (including Community Schools) and the Office of Children and Families to improve outcomes for students.

Leads and coordinates efforts to address existing and emerging issues which pertain to student discipline, hearings and expulsions; coordinates the establishment of timelines to achieve District goals.

Oversees all District wide attendance initiatives and partnerships with stakeholders; sets processes and policies for attendance and truancy.

Revises the Student Code of Conduct annually in collaboration with stakeholders.

Coordinates student leadership activities, including citywide student government, mentoring and Black male engagement, student representatives for the Board, GSAs and other student lead groups.

In coordination with the Executive Director of Professional Development provides content for PD to include, but not limited to : Understanding the Code of Conduct, Peer Mediation, Title 9, supporting transgender students, supporting homeless students, growing youth voice, and support with attendance strategies.

Fosters and maintains cooperative working relationships with School District administrators, City officials and community organizations.

Collaborates with the Department of Human Services (DHS) around program data and outcomes for DHS involved youth.

In collaboration with City partners for the truancy process, oversees the establishment of policy and protocols for attendance; ensures that the functions of the attendance coaches are in alignment with the Pennsylvania Department of Education school plans.

Directs the work of the Student Transition Center in collaboration with Juvenile probation, DHS and Community Behavioral Health (CBH) to support students returning to the District from court ordered placements or placements through CBH; sets protocols and establishes best practices for case managers in the Center to support returning students.

Provides leadership for the Education of Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness Office; oversees the provision of support to students experiencing homelessness and ensures that student rights are protected through the McKinney-Vento federal law.

Writes Board policies relevant to student rights; attends all Board and committee meetings as the representative of Student Support Services.

Oversees the implementation of policy and protocol for the complaints procedure for Title 9 and other bullying and harassment complaints.

Represents the District in cross-collaborative meetings with City partners such as Act 33 and the Youth Residential Task Force.

Oversees the master's level social workers who supervise Master of Social Work interns to support schools.

Communicates with administrators, personnel, and external agencies to respond to a variety of inquiries related to student discipline, hearings and expulsions operations and activities.

Guides, directs, advises, and participates in serious discipline processes and problems including student suspension and expulsion cases; directs the implementation and administration of policies and procedures.

Minimum Requirements :

Master's degree from an accredited college or university in education or a criminal justice related field.

Ten years of full-time, paid, professional experience, five of which have been in an administrative or supervisory capacity and have included responsibility for advising District staff about student rights, directing and coordinating student discipline, hearings and expulsion activities for a large urban school district.

OR

Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school or university.

Ten years of full-time, paid, professional experience, five of which have been in an administrative or supervisory capacity and have included responsibility for advising District staff about student rights, directing and coordinating student discipline, hearings and expulsion activities for a large urban school district.

All work experience related to the position must be included on the resume.

NOTE : An applicant who does not meet the minimum education or work experience requirements listed above may be considered if, at the sole discretion of the Talent Office, they have a unique combination of education and work experiences that indicates potential for success in this role.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities :

• Demonstrated knowledge of the policies and procedures concerning student discipline, hearings and expulsions.
• Standards, requirements, practices and procedures related to due process.
• Current developments in the areas of student discipline, hearings and expulsions.
• Supervisory techniques.
• Collaborative problem-solving methods.
• McKinney-Vento law and procedures.
• The Juvenile Act.
• Act 126 and Act 138.
• Pennsylvania School Code.
• Supervising a large team.

Demonstrated ability to :

Disclaimer : The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.

Nondiscrimination : The School District of Philadelphia provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, age, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, ancestry, national origin, disability, pregnancy, marital status, gender identity, or genetic information. Please refer to Board Policy 348 for further information regarding the District's commitment to Nondiscrimination in Employment Practices.