The Ombuds Blog: Portland Public Schools Eliminates Ombuds Office

July 09, 2019

Portland Public Schools Eliminates Ombuds Office

Judi Martin, CO-OP, has served as the Organizational Ombuds for the large, urban school district in Oregon since September 2014. Last week, the district announced it was "phasing out the Ombudsman position" after a year-long evaluation. According to a statement, "PPS ... will continue to serve as a resource, provide information about district policies and procedures, and, when appropriate, conduct informal interventions and mediations."

Related posts: City of Portland Declares April 3, 2011 to be 'Ombuds Day'; Portland State University Will Close Ombuds Office; Portland Public Schools Draws Criticism for Alignment of New Ombuds; The Broader View of Ombuds in Public Schools.

1 comment:

Anonymous7/10/2019 12:17 AM
What an incredibly huge loss. Working in K-12 is a really unique setting, and there are very few of us out there. My role was developed because our district recognized the value of the Conflict Resolution field and what it could potentially do to serve stakeholders. I hope something great is on the horizon for Judi and the scholars of PDX will still be served without that role.

Emily Heizer
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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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