Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Ombudsman Office topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
PGCPS launches ombudsman office and Zendesk ticketing to centralize family concerns
Summary
Superintendent and the new ombudsman's office described a neutral, confidential reporting function and a Zendesk ticketing system (multilingual) that centralizes concerns; early metrics show faster resolution and data to identify systemic trends.
Prince George's County Public Schools introduced a new ombudsman's office and an enterprise ticketing system during the board meeting on March 26, presenting the office as a neutral resource to help families and staff navigate district processes.
Superintendent Dr. Joseph described the ombudsman's office as "an independent, impartial resource" led by Dr. Thea Wilson. Dr. Wilson said the office does not replace existing chains of command but provides problem-solving support, mediation, guidance on district policies and pathways to resolution. The office will operate on three core principles: confidentiality, neutrality and independence.
Dr. Wilson described an enterprise ticketing system implemented with Zendesk that centralizes concerns, documents casework, improves tracking and reporting, supports multilingual submissions (English, Spanish, French and Persian) and has short resolution times so far. She said average ticket resolution time was less than a day at rollout and has moved to about four days as cases become more complex; the ticketing system also allows the office to identify recurring issues and recommend systemwide improvements.
The office will not supplant school- or department-level resolution but will guide stakeholders through the district’s resolution hierarchy and escalate unresolved issues as appropriate. Dr. Wilson said the office has already started collecting data to inform systemic improvements and will continue outreach to increase awareness across schools.
