The Ombuds Blog: Knox County Schools Consider Ombuds

June 06, 2016

Knox County Schools Consider Ombuds

Last week, a task recommended that the Knox County Tennessee Board of Education appoint an Ombuds for its 88 schools and 58,000 students. A board task force on "Disparities in Educational Outcomes" said that an Ombuds would Ombuds would be a liaison between families and the district and also report regularly to the board about the progress of the task force recommendations for a cost of about $100,000.

The task force is comprised of group of business, community and faith-based stakeholders, and has made several other recommendations for system-wide changes. A final decision on the Ombuds proposal has not been scheduled. (DEO Task Force Report; Knox News.)

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Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

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