Required Public Notices & Compliance

This statement appears in full in the Student Handbook and is reinforced in the Employee Handbook. It is published here as a standalone public notice.

New York State's Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) took effect on July 1, 2012. The law seeks to provide the state's public-school students with a safe and supportive environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment, and bullying on school property, school buses and/or at school functions.

No student shall be subjected to harassment by staff or students on school property or at any school function; nor shall any student be subject to discrimination based on a person's actual or perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, or gender (defined to include gender identity or expression).

Parents who feel that their child has been bullied should contact the Dean of Students or Principal, who will coordinate with the school's DASA Coordinator to investigate. Any student who believes they have been subjected to discrimination, harassment, bullying, or retaliatory conduct — as well as anyone with knowledge of such behavior — should immediately report it to any staff member or administrator. Reports are documented and reported verbally and in writing within 24 hours. All complaints are promptly investigated, forwarded to the DASA Coordinator for monitoring, and treated as confidential to the extent possible within legal constraints.

Stage 1 — Principal. Any student or parent may bring complaints to the Principal of Green Tech High Charter School. Complaints shall be submitted to the school office. The Principal researches relevant background information, including interviewing the defending party, then contacts the complainant to arrange a meeting to discuss a resolution, and renders a determination in writing when appropriate or required.

Stage 2 — Board of Trustees. Any individual or group may bring an alleged violation of the law or the school's charter to the Board of Trustees, regardless of having submitted a complaint to the Principal. Complaints to the board shall be submitted to the Principal's office. Complaints submitted at least one week prior to the next board meeting will be acted upon at that meeting; complaints submitted later are addressed at the subsequent meeting. Emergency issues are dealt with on an as-needed basis. Upon resolution of a formal complaint, the Board renders a determination in writing that includes any remedial actions, written notice that the complainant may appeal to the Charter Schools Institute if the complaint involves a violation of law or the school's charter, and a copy of the Charter Schools Institute's Grievance Guidelines.

Stage 3 — Authorizer and Board of Regents. An individual or group has the right to appeal a determination involving a violation of the charter or law to the SUNY Charter Schools Institute, and thereafter to the State Education Department on behalf of the Board of Regents.

The school's information technology resources, including email and Internet access, are provided for educational purposes. Students must respect and protect the privacy of others, using only assigned accounts and never distributing private information. They must respect and protect the integrity, availability, and security of all electronic resources, observing posted network security practices and reporting security risks or violations.

Students must respect and protect the intellectual property of others — no copyright infringement and no plagiarism — and practice the principles of community by communicating kindly and respectfully, reporting threatening or discomforting materials, and never accessing, transmitting, copying, or creating material that is pornographic, threatening, rude, discriminatory, harassing, or otherwise illegal.

Supervision and monitoring: school and network administrators and their authorized employees monitor the use of information technology resources to ensure uses are secure and in conformity with this policy. Violations may result in disciplinary action, loss of technology privileges, and possible expulsion. All Internet use policies apply fully to laptop and notebook use.

FERPA gives parents and eligible students the right to inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school, to request that the school correct records they believe to be inaccurate or misleading, and to control the disclosure of personally identifiable information from those records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.

Green Tech High Charter School's full Rights Under FERPA notice is published as a standalone document on the Handbooks & Policies page. Families with questions about access to their son's records may contact the school office at 518-694-3400.

As a New York public charter school, Green Tech High is subject to the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). Records requests may be submitted in writing to Green Tech High Charter School, 99 Slingerland St, Albany, NY 12202, or by calling 518-694-3400. The school responds to requests within the timeframes New York State law requires.

The school's public records procedure and its published subject-matter list of records held are posted as standalone documents on the Handbooks & Policies page, alongside board minutes, annual reports, and performance data.

Green Tech High Charter School is governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees. The current roster and trustee biographies are published on the board page, meeting minutes are posted in the board minutes archive, and the board membership table is filed each year in the school's Annual Report.