Office of Legal Services

KCPS Office of Legal Services seeks to advance public education by providing sound legal information. It supports efficient management of administrative functions, minimizes financial liability, and ensures compliance with federal, state, and local laws and Board policy.

Our mission is to provide high quality legal services with professionalism, integrity and respect for the community, the School Board and our employees.

Administrative Policies

The role of a Board of Education is to set policy and the role of the administration is to execute it. Policy is a foundational governing document. The basic definitions of policies and procedures, as defined by the Missouri School Boards' Association, are as follows:

Policies are values or principles adopted by the Board that establish the framework for what is to be done. Policies provide general guidance for the district and are based on the vision and mission of the school district. Policies include topics subject to direct board governance as well as those concerning the board's own operation. Some policies are included in the manual because of laws or regulations that require them. Others are included at the discretion of the Board in order to provide for consistent operation of the district and to meet the educational needs of students.

Procedures put policy into practice. They tell how, by whom, where and when things are to be done. Procedures often reflect legal and regulatory requirements that do not require Board approval.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

KCPS is an equal opportunity employer that maintains a diverse workforce and is committed to providing a work environment free from discrimination in accordance with all federal, state and local laws. We value employees’ talents and support an environment that is inclusive and respectful. Kansas City Public Schools provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to sex, race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other factor prohibited by law or based upon a belief that such a factor exists.

KCPS is committed to assuring that:

• All recruiting, hiring, training, promotions, compensation, and other employment related programs are provided fairly to all persons on an equal opportunity basis;
• Employment decisions are based on the principal of equal opportunity. All personnel actions such as compensation, benefits, transfers, training and participation in social and recreation programs are administered without regard to any characteristic protected by state, federal or local law; and
• Employees and applicants will not be subjected to harassment, intimidation, threats, retaliation coercion or discrimination because they have exercised any right protected by law.

KCPS expressly prohibits any form of unlawful employee harassment based on sex, race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, or any other factor prohibited by law or based upon a belief that such a factor exists. Improper interference with the ability of KCPS employees to perform their expected job duties is absolutely not tolerated. (See Administrative Policies: AC, AC-2, AC-AP (1)

ADA Compliance

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA)
It is the policy of KCPS to comply with all federal and state laws concerning the employment of persons with disabilities and to act in accordance with regulations and guidance issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Furthermore, it is our policy not to discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities in regard to application procedures, hiring, advancement, discharge, compensation, leave, training or other terms, conditions and privileges of employment.

Employees who may require a reasonable accommodation should contact the Human Resources Department.

(See Administrative Policies: AC, AC-2)

Website Accessibility

Kansas City Public Schools is committed to ensuring that our website is accessible to everyone. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the accessibility of this site, please contact the Department of Communications, as we are continually striving to improve the experience for all of our visitors.

Standards compliance

KCPS is actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so endeavors to conform to WCAG 2.0 Level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities. Conformance with these guidelines will help make the web more user-friendly for all people.

Consistent navigation

• Navigation is consistent throughout the site.
• The main navigation menu is at the top of each page.
• Section links can be found in both the dropdowns or the left-hand column of the respective section.
• The footer contains links to accessibility design aspects and ADA contact information.

Increasing the font size

• If you would like to increase the font size of the entire site, use the browser controls.
• In all modern browsers (i.e. Internet Explorer 8, Firefox, Safari) you can select View > Zoom or use the appropriate keyboard controls.
• In older versions of Internet Explorer, select View > Text Size.

Images

• Unless they are purely decorative items, all images used on this web site have suitable Alt (alternative) attributes.
• Content should be usable/accessible with images "off" (disabled).

Links

• Many links have title attributes which describe the link in greater detail unless the text of the link already fully describes the target.
• Links are written to make sense out of context.
• The first link in every page is a "skip to content" which is to skip directly to what is considered the main section of the page (the content).

Printer Friendly

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